The Dark Angel
by Amilea
Summary: UPDATED November 5 2006: Chapter 20 is now up! R&R! Oh and by the way I KNOW some details arent in keeping with past history or what you think the Undertaker might act like but there is such a thing as CREATIVE LISCENCE here people.
1. Chapter 1

The Dark Angel

Chapter One

The sun beat down on the quiet Houston neighbourhood. The light glistening against the smooth metallic body of the bike, making it look like it was caught in a thousand limelights. He carefully wiped around the shining chrome of the fuel tank, pausing every few minutes to admire his eflection in the flawless metal.

'Doesn't matter how many times you change the act, you just can't kill vanity.' he thought smiling.

He brushed his hair out of his face and looked around the street which had been his home since childhood. It was a beautiful day and everywhere he looked people where using the glorious weather to their enjoyment. Sunbathes, small children and even the elderly where out in the sunshine. As he looked at each one of them he remembered contently that here he was just himself, not a superstar. Everybody around was a friend, and some of them had known him for years. Ever since he was a child, though, the lewis family where his favourites.

They had done things for him and he had in return done favours for them. They had become best friends and he had helped them anyway he could. That had included looking after their young daughter Rose, who over the years he had come to regard as his little sister. Hardly the kind of life one would expect from a man whose face in the public eye had been a dark priest, then a rogue bad ass.

Mark "Undertaker" Calloway knew that the image the WWE had given him meant nothing to any of his neighbours. That was why he liked them so much. He looked up again to see the sixteen year old Rose walking up to him. Even at a distance, he could see the playful look in her eyes. As she came towards him, she smiled but kept her hands behind her back.

"Hey Mark." she shouted as she walked up to him, "My parents are having a party tonight, they asked me to invite you."

Mark smiled. He had a feeling she was up to something. He lay back in his chair, deciding to play along.

"You'll have to give me a few mintues to get cleaned up." he replied relaxing with his hands behind his head.  
"I can help with that." Rose answered playfully. She watched Mark raise a curious eyebrow.

She walked closer to him and sniggered. Mark leaned forward and suddenly in a blink, he was being drenched with water as Rose pulled out a watergun and squirted him relentlessly. Mark choked on his own laughter as he tried to defend himself against the gushing assault. A giggling Rose didn't stop until she ran out of water. Mark couldn't resist a grin.

"My turn." he told her in mock indignation, face full of smiles. Rose tried to dodge out of reach but eventually he caught a hold of her and swung her around in a circle.  
It seemed impossible for Rose to stop laughing. She was still giggling after he put her down. Both of them where slightly out of breathe. Mark knelt down and put his hands on her shoulders.

"Go tell your mam and dad i'm on my way." he told her, smiling again as she walked off.

As Mark walked into his neighbours' spacious backyard, the party was in full swing. People everywhere were either admiring the garden, enjoying the music or huddling around the barbeque. The air was thick with happiness as he looked around. He quickly caught sight of Rose's parent's and ambled towards them, picking up a beer as he went. He greeted his friends and thanked them for their invitation, as usual they told him it was nothing and they were glad to have him there. They had talked about what Mark had been up to, both at home and on the road with the WWE.  
The hours pasted happily as Mark enjoyed himself with his friends and with Rose. As the night wore on he wended his way back towards his friends and sat down to join them. They could see he had enjoyed himself and as he sat down, they told him how much Rose enjoyed his visits.  
"Yeah." Mark sighed, "Shame it won't last"  
The Two frowned, wondering what he was talking about.  
"I've only got two more day's left before i go back on the road." he explained as he finished his beer, "I'm flying to Connecticut tomorrow."

Ross, Rose's father spoke up "Your right, she loves it when you come around, your're like a brother to her."

Although he hadn't told Mark anything he didn't already know or feel, Mark still felt honored that Ross thought of him like that. He looked at Rose playing around with her friends. He felt almost like he was abandoning her. The feeling was hard to shake off as he packed to leave. He felt like he was breaking up a family. Something special to him, something that made him feel at home. A knock came at the front door as he closed his last suitcase. Mark smiled as he approached the door. It was Rose, come to say her farewell. It was a tearful moment for her, but she managed to keep a happy face.

"I brought you something to remember me when you are away with the WWE." she told him, taking a photograph out of her pocket. It was from the party two nights before. She and all her friends trying to pull him down to the ground. Of course, stubborn as he was, Mark stood his ground, lifting them all clean into the air.

Mark laughed "You know what? I have something for you too." he told Rose. Rose's face brightened up, "stay here."

As she waited Rose reminised. She realised that he would be gone for a long time. She looked up to see him returning with his hands behind his back. Mark blinked, then soaked her with a hosepipe. She was completely off guard, soaked in seconds, drenched from head to toe.

"What was that for?" she asked laughing while cleaning the water off her face.

"Thought you looked a little dehydrated." Mark quipped.

Rose stared, bewildered, at him for a few moments before running at him in a tight hug. Mark held his 'little sister' close for a long time, eventually the two released each other. Mark knew she didnt want him to go. That was one of the only things about his job he hated, seeing the pain in Rose's eyes knowing they wouldnt see each other for a long time. 


	2. Chapter 2 FINALLY UPLOADED!

Dark Angel

Chapter Two

'I hate long flights' Mark thought to himself as he shuffled uncomfortably in his seat. Even first class seating had a habit of being scratchy and unbearable. He adjusted the seat back and pressed play on his MP3 player, he looked at the little music player. Rose had got him it as a christmas present, she told him how he thought he would like it as it gave him something to listen to while he was traveling. He continued reading his book, the picture of rose peaked out from beneath his book. He couldn't stop himself from looking at it and eventually he gave up on reading and picked it up. He remembered the party and how much fun it had been. He still felt a nagging sense of guilt about leaving but he knew she would enjoy watching him on tv. He took comfort in it, smiling and realised that he was entranced as the hostess tried to get his attention.

A few short hours later, he was reunited with his other family, his fellow superstars. He knew he had friendship, respect and memories with the people he worked with. As he sat with them in a bar, he felt confused, almost like he was coming home, but he still thought about his friends back in Houston.

After a few hours at the bar, he found out the show was due to air at 7PM. That meant that, if he wanted to get there with enough time to workout as well as his other pre-match rituals, he would have to arrive at 5PM.

He rode back to the hotel he was staying at, getting used to the fact that he was back and feeling his nervousness slip away as though the wind carried it from him while he rode along the highway. At last, he made it back to the hotel, his mind as clear as the starry night. He was admittedly still tired from the flight and made his way to his suite.

He went to the bedroom. Once he was inside, he closed the door and unceremoniously dropped his baggage, brought up by porter, near the door. Increasingly tired, Mark crawled onto the bed and lay on his back, staring at the ceiling. He lay there on the bed, still feeling guilty about leaving Rose. He decided to call her and see how she was, in an effort to clear his conscience.

"Hello?" Ross answered. Mark shifted in the bed to get more comfortable.  
"Hey, Ross, is Rose there?" Mark asked. Suddenly Ross seemed to gain a personality.  
"Oh, hey, Mark, yeah she is. Hang on, I'll get her"  
After a few minutes of boring waiting, Mark heard the phone rustle and listened to hear Rose. "Rose Lewis speaking," she said in an almost business-like accent that made Mark chuckle.  
"Hey, squirt," he said. Instantly he heard a gasp. "Recognise who this is"  
"Mark"  
"The one and only," Mark said, suddenly feeling much happier.  
"What are you doing calling me? The show starts in like...four hours!" "Just wanted to know how you're doing"  
"I'm doing good," Rose said. "I miss you, though," she added. Mark sighed. "I miss you too, squirt," he replied. He heard Rose scoff. "Bigfoot," she retorted. Mark laughed. "So, what are you doing then, if you're not already at the Arena"  
"Just chilling out in my hotel room," Mark said conversationally. He secretly wondered if Rose was thinking he would be doing something far less innocent. "You"  
"Watching Erin Brockovich." Now it was Mark's turn to scoff.  
"Ah, chick flick. The actress in that film is very nice"  
"Hey, bigfoot, drool over Julia Roberts some other time," Rose giggled. Mark raised an eyebrow. "Yes mother," he replied. "Smartass," Rose responded. Mark knew she would be looking flustered at the other end of the line. "Yeah, well you love me for it," he said, reaching over to the sideboard and grabbing one of the complementary mints. "You're lucky I do," she replied, as Mark savaged the mint wrapper, downed the mint, and threw the wrapper away. He looked at the picture already on the sideboard. The one she had given him. "Thanks for the picture, sis," he added, still looking at it. "No problem, bro," she replied with a crude Brooklyn accent. "What are you doing tomorrow"  
"Whatever the hell they need of me," Mark laughed. "I record the show tonight, then I find out where to go next"  
"Well, when will you be back home?" Rose asked. Mark heard the imploring in her voice.  
"I don't know, honey," he replied softly. "Ok," Rose said in a small voice. "Hey, I think I should go now, you'll need your beauty sleep." Mark almost brought the mint back up. "HEY! I'm always good lookin', don't you think?" He asked, faking innocence.  
"I can't answer that," Rose answered exasperatedly.  
"Why not?" Mark asked, chewing on another mint.  
"You're my big brother," she answered. "It would be so gross"  
"This is coming from the gil who thought that Sleepy Hollow was sexy," Mark replied. Rose gave a laugh.  
"Hey, I never said that! I said it was SCARY," she replied. "They keep getting their heads chopped off"  
"I've seen worse," said Mark blandly. "That's because you're old," Rose joked. "Oh, thanks," Mark said in mock indignation.  
"Sorry, it was meant to be a joke," Rose replied, thinking she really had offended him.  
"I know," Mark replied sympathetically. "I was just messing with you"  
"MARK!" Rose replied, clicking on. "Couldn't resist," Mark laughed. "You're too gullible"  
"Actually..." Rose petered out, looking for a retort and finding none, "...that's true"  
Mark laughed. "Well, I'd better let you go for the night"  
"Ok then," Rose said, struggling to stop laughing. "I Miss you"  
"I miss you too, sis. Sweet dreams," Mark said. "Bye," Rose said. Then she hung up.

Mark twisted back onto his back and started to kick off his clothes. So this was it, back on the road. He took a look at the time. it was 4:20PM. It took him 40 minutes to get to the arena.

With an ungodly shock, Mark realised he needed to be there by 5PM.

"OH, SHIT!" Mark cursed, leaping out of bed. 


	3. Chapter 3

Dark Angel

Chapter Three

Mark woke up the next morning at 10AM, to the sound of a loud banging on his hotel-room door. Mark grumbled nonsense and threw a pillow over his head, hoping the noise would stop. When the banging wouldn't stop, he got out of bed, threw on a shirt and walked to the door, opening it.  
"WHAT!" Mark bellowed as he opened the door.  
"Nice to see you too, pal," the source of the annoyance said. Mark grimaced, suddenly feeling embarrassed. "Oh, hey Glen"  
"Morning, twinkle toes," Glen Jacobs replied. "Can I come in?" "Oh, yeah, sorry," a still-not-quite-awake Mark answered. Glen entered the room as Mark opened the door wider. He made his way to the modest living area and sat down on a sofa, whilst a shuffling, sleepy-headed Mark cranked and mumbled his way to the kitchenette, to get himself a dose of coffee. As Mark sat down in a comfy armchair near the sofa, Glen leaned forward and looked at him, convinced that his old friend looked like a mess. "How was your vacation"  
"It was great," Mark answered clearly, almost downing the whole cup.  
"How's Rose?" Glen asked. Mark had told him about her in the past. "She's doing really good." Mark's conversational skills obviously wouldn't be up to much until the rest of him had woken up, Glen decided after hearing this. "Any practical Jokes you two plahyed on each other"  
"Well..." Mark set down the empty cup. "She invited me to a party she and her parents were having, then she soaked me with a watergun." Glen almost scoffed on his own laughter. "You got back at her, didn't you?" he asked as he struggled to get normal breathing back.  
"Yeah," Mark replied, looking vaguely at the fireplace. "I soaked her with a hosepipe." Glen burst out laughing. Mark gave a smirk.  
"You know what you are?" Glen asked. Mark looked at his old friend with intrigue. "You're a bully"  
Mark laughed. "Hey, she's my little sister...and SHE was the one who started playing the jokes on ME, when she was little, remember?" Glen sat back in the sofa, chortling. "Oh yeah," he said as he relaxed. "The whoopee cushion was my favourite"  
"Mainly because it was your idea." Mark added. Glen gave a sly grin. "Well, i'd better get going. Gimme a call when you're...sober looking," Glen settled on something with minimal offensiveness. "And we'll head out for a bite and maybe a workout before flying out tomorrow." "Alright, gimme a half hour," Mark said, absently wondering why Glen had said "sober looking". They said their goodbyes and Mark closed the door. Mark made his way to the bathroom, undressed and got into the shower. Aferwards he tied his hair back in a ponytail and put a bandana around his head. He shoved on his jeans and boots, before grabbing his gym gear and heading downstairs to meet Glen. They dined in the hotel's restaurant, being too lazy to go looking for somewhere else and also succumbing to the desire to take advantage of the all-inclusive package. Then they left for the gm. When mark was weightlifting, about half an hour later, Glen joined him.  
"So," Mark grunted. "We know how my life's been, how's yours"  
"Things are great," Glen said shrewdly. "But you're not getting out of telling me what's going on in your life." Mark racked the weights and sat up. "The hell is that supposed to mean?" he asked, looking Glen in the eye. "Oh, come on Mark," Glen said, downing the last of his water and turning to face his friend. "You've never dated another woman since"  
"Don't even mention her name," Mark spat. "She doesn't exist to me anymore. Leave it alone!" he said, suddenly on the defensive. Glen recoiled a little.  
"Fine, but I'm just saying I haven't seen you with any woman for over four years"  
"So!" Mark exclaimed. Glen turned to face him again, facing the storm. "So, don't you think it's time for you to get back onto the dating scene"  
"I will," Mark said, towelling his sweating face, "when I'm good and damn ready"  
Glen left the subject at that. "They want you do an extra piece of recording for next week's show before we go, by the way," Glen added, changing the subject. "Oh yeah?" Mark asked, instantly back to normal. "You're in a handicap match..with the Hardyz. Lita's with them. At the end, you win the match. You're about to chokeslam Jeff when Amy jumps into the ring and tries to stop you, until you grab ahold of her too"  
Mark listened with curiosity...he had never heard Glen call Lita by her real name. He decided to remember that little hint for later. "So I'm a heel again," he summarised. Glen nodded. "Yeah, but when you're about to drop her out of the ring...my music hits." Glen's eyes were fiery with the idea. Mark could see it. But he still didn't say anything. "Basically I come stop you. You drop her and we stand in the ring, throw a few theatrics around, while she looks confused as all hell"  
"So...we're ending the show?" Mark said. "Yup," Glen said, with a cocky twist. Mark grinned. "So," he decided now as as good a time as any. "How long have you had a thing for Amy Dumas?" Glen's face looked like he'd just hit a brick wall. "What? What d'you mean?" "Whenever you talk about her, your face lights up. You're even calling her Amy instead of Lita. Come on, Glen, I know a crush when I see it"  
Glen looked defeated. "So? She's a nice person"  
"Why are you so nervous about asking her out for?" Mark said. Now it was his turn to stare intensely at his friend. "You think people would laugh cause she looks like she's dating bigfoot or something"  
"Bigfoot!" Glen exclaimed. Mark cringed. "Sorry, it's the hair and the beard." Glen laughed. He knew when Mark wasn't seriously trying to insult him after all these years. "Come on," Mark added. "We'd better go, I need to sleep before I fly." "You slept for 9 hours last night!" Glen protested as they got up.  
"Yeah," Mark reasoned. "But I usually sleep for 12." 


	4. Chapter 4 Sorry it took so long

Dark Angel: Chapter 4

Mark made his way to the arena, the show was starting in an hour. He made his way to the locker room, as he was making his way there he saw something which sparked his interest.

"Hello hello, what have we got here?" he mused quietly to himself as he got off his bike. He walked closer to the pair of people talking near the Parking Lot arena entrance. It was Amy and Glen. Talking to each other. "What d'you know, the big bastard decided to get off his ass and do something.

"Hey you two," Mark said as he approached the laughing pair. "What you talking about?

"I was just telling Amy about what you and Rose did to each other when you were on vacation," Glen chuckled.

"Mark, you're a bully," Amy laughed. Mark groaned and looked at Glen with mock indignation.

"Where have I heard that before?" he asked. Glen pretended to look embarrassed. Mark laughed. "Why am I always the bad guy?" he added. "She started it."

Glen and Amy howled with laughter. Mark looked at them, wondering what on earth they were smoking.  
"Well, Mark, Amy, I'll see you two later, I'm off to get ready," Glen said. He smiled and left.

As soon as Glen was out of earshot Mark took Amy to oneside.

"Amy," he said, with a bit of gravity leaking through his voice. "Are you seeing anyone at the moment?"

"No I'm not," Amy said. She looked like she clicked on and blushed a bit. "Mark, I'm flattered, but you're not my type."

"No no no, not me," Mark laughed. She had actually thought he was asking her out. She looked considerably relieved. Mark wasn't sure whether or not to be offended. He rattled on. "But someone I know."

"Who?" Amy asked, intrigued. Mark "Undertaker" Calaway wasn't exactly famous for keeping...subtle...friends.

"Glen." Mark said flatly. "Glen?" Amy echoed. "Glen." Mark repeated. "Glen!" Amy replied. "As in..."Kane" Glen!" Mark blustered. "But..he's...wierd," Amy replied.

"I thought you might say that," Mark said, finally clicking on as to why Amy had needed so much confirmation that they were talking about the same person.

"Well..." Amy's voice softened. Mark looked at her, trying to read her suddenly mysterious expression.

"Listen," Mark said, guessing she was going to do something. "Don't tell him I let you know this, cause he had no idea I was going to"  
For a moment, Amy thought Mark was about to say Glen would kill him. She laughed, looking ever more enigmatic. "Don't worry, I'll keep it a secret."

"Thanks, Amy," Mark replied. He made to leave. "No, thankyou," she called after him. Mark stopped in his tracks, turned, and eyed her suspiciously. "What are you gonna pull?" Mark asked, curiosity peaked. "You'll see tonight, after he 'saves' me from you." Mark raised an eyebrow. Whatever was going to happen, it definitely wasn't in the script.

Later that night, Mark found himself feeling like perhaps Handicap matches weren't his thing. Matt Hardy charged towards him with suicidal speed, only to have his face collide with Mark's foot. Mark threw the Hardyz around the ring, feeling more like he was playing a human game of Hoop-La than wrestling. Jeff made to jump on Mark from the top rope, but Mark intercepted him by grabbing him around the neck and dragging him off the turnbuckle onto his feet. Matt attempted to come to his brother's aid, only to have Mark's other hand clamp around his neck. Mark stepped up the theatrics. Holding the two squirming carolinans in his hands, he pulled out the signature grin and wide-eyed stare. The crowd responded with raucous screams. He walked around the ring, holding the two for a few seconds, then lifted them high into the air. "Smile for the cameras, boys," Mark said to the choking people above him, shortly before bringing them crashing down to the canvas.

Mark hauled himself to his knees, took a few deep breaths, thought "How the hell can something so tiny be so heavy?" and collapsed between Matt and Jeff, covering both of them for a three-count. But once the ref raised Mark's hand, he wasn't done.

Mark shook the referee's arm off, delivering a sharp blow to his face. "Earl, how the hell do you take all this punishment?" He idly wondered. Then he advanced on the Hardyz, who were still prone on the mat. Mark wrapped a hand around Jeff's neck and dragged him to his feet. He frog-marched Jeff to the edge of the ropes, by his neck.

As he knew was eventually going to happen, Lita jumped on his back, wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. Mark dropped Jeff to the mat, grabbed a handful of Lita's hair, and dragged her over his head. He left her on the floor for a few seconds so she could absorb the impact, then wrapped a hand around her neck, kneeling next to her.

"I'm still waiting for that surprise of yours," Mark said, out of breath.  
"You'll see...in a minute...just don't break me." Amy choked. Mark loosened the hold on her neck a little to let her breathe. "Alright, up on my count. One...two..THREE!" Mark hefted Amy up onto her feet. She felt almost no pain but faked it for the crowd anyway. "Faker..." Mark said, evil grin still plastered to his face. "You should see what I can do in the bedroom," Amy joked. Mark struggled not to laugh. He lifted her up, into the air. "Showtime." On cue, Glen's music exploded through the air, along with his pyro. In full mask-costume, Glen began to advance slowly down the ramp toward the ring. Mark released Amy, staring at the Mask, trying to focus on the eye slits. As he did, Kane climbed the side of the ring, stepped over the ropes, and faced Mark in the middle of the ring.  
"Nice of you to show up," Mark whispered to Glen.  
"This mask itches like a bastard," Glen complained. "Get on with it," Mark said. The crowd, oblivious to their little jokes, thought the two were staring into each other's souls in some supernatural battle of wills. Glen's arms came up, and then down, and the ring posts burst into flames for a few seconds. Lita lay against the bottom rope, in the centre of the ropes, looking confused. Mark glanced at her, knowing that it was all theatrics. It was Glen that was in for the real surprise. Mark decided to make his exit. After staring at Glen for a few moments, he said "bye, then," in an undertone, and walked to the side of the ring, stepping between the ropes and leaving up the entrance ramp. Inside the ring, Glen stared at his back, watching him leave. Amy knew this was her chance. She also knew that the show had stopped broadcasting. This meant a very special treat for those people in the arena. She got up, and walked over to Glen. She stared up into the mask, all that was exposed by the accessory were Glen's lips.

She put her hands either side of his face, pulled him down to hers, and kissed him passionately. 


	5. Chapter 5 Heres 4 chapters

Dark Angel: Chapter 5

As Mark was putting his riding gear to leave the arena, Glen suddenly barged into the locker room, still with the Kane costume on, minus the mask. His makeup had ran and his hair was still wet from his pre-match shower.

"Glen, you look like a drowned rat," Mark said as he looked up at his friend, who was coming to a standstill. He stood up. "What's bugging you."

"You told her, didn't you?" Glen suddenly shouted. Mark's face became serious. "Hey! Calm down! You're making a scene"  
"CALM DOWN?" Glen blustered. "You told Amy I liked her, didn't you?" "Yeah," Mark said flatly, seeing no reason to beat around the bush. "Yeah, I did"  
"Why!" Glen demanded. "Because you would have lost your chance to someone else by the time you had the balls to admit it to her," Mark retorted. "When did you tell her? Who gave you the idea?" Glen bellowed. "Nobody ga-" Mark's cellphone bleeped. He fished it out of his pocket. Text message. He read through it. "Hey Mark, have you told Amy about Glen yet, think you should, those two would look really good together, all the best, Rose," Mark read out in an undertone. He had a spasm of worry as he realised Glen was standing right in front of him as he had said that. Mark quickly stuffed his phone back into his pocket, and stared at Glen's blank face again.  
"Where were we?" He asked. "Rose said...you told ROSE TOO!" Glen thundered. Mark sighed.  
"YES," he said, matching Glen's volume, knowing it was the best way to shut him up.  
It did shut him up. Glen fell onto the sofa, holding his towel in his hands, looking completely confused. "I told her - Amy - after you left me to get ready for tonight's match," Mark explained. "I did not, however, tell her to kiss you"  
Glen looked at him. "Funny..." he managed. "I thought that bit WAS your idea"  
Mark scoffed, grinned, then looked at the gradually - calming Glen.  
"She told me she had an idea, but she never told me that was it," Mark added. "You swear?" Glen asked, standing up again. "Yeah, I swear," Mark replied. "Ok," Glen conceded. He looked at Mark, feeling a bit embarrassed. "I believe you"  
"Good," Mark answered. "Now get out of here, she's waiting for you to take her to dinner." Glen stopped, a foot from the door. "What"  
"I arranged it, paid for it. You're going to dinner. Both of you." Glen momentarily looked flustered again, but then realised..dinner...not a bad idea. "Thanks Mark," he added. "Have a good night," Mark replied as Glen left. "I'll send you the bill later on"  
Fortunately Glen was gone before Mark said that. "There you go, Mark, funniest thing you'll ever say and no one was around to hear it."

After Glen left the locker room, Mark made sure he hadn't left anything behind and left to go back to the hotel. The night was quiet and the road was empty. Mark felt an almost childish urge. He put on the cheesiest grin he could manage and opened up the throttle of the bike to full power. With a blistering roar, the Titan tore through the open air down the highway like a raging demon. The speed gave Mark an incredible thrill.

He reached the hotel in 10 minutes. His face felt cold and pale as he dismounted and checked the time. Midnight. He should have taken 20 minutes longer to arrive. He got off his bike and wandered towards the door with an amused smile on his face. A few seconds later, that smile was wiped off his face as he collided with the door.

BANG.

He let out a frustrated moan as he remembered he had to PULL the door open. Now he had a headache to worry about. He rubbed his sore head as he headed to his room. As soon as he got there, he locked the door, dumped his bag unceremoniously nearby and sat on the bed. He'd only been out of the game for a few weeks but he still needed to get used to the feeling of being on the road again.

Mark lay back, his hand draping lazily off the side of the bed as he did. He breathed comically, trying to ignore the wierd throbbing sensation in his forehead.

The phone suddenly started to ring. Mark picked it up and grunted a "hello?"

"Mark?" Came a small voice. "It's Rose."

Mark instantly knew something was wrong. His eyes flew open. "What's wrong? What's bugging you?" Mark asked sympathetically.

"I've had a rough day at school," Rose replied. There was a rustling - Mark guessed she was wiping her eyes. "Some girls started picking on me," she explained. "They said I look like I've got balloons stuck to my chest."

"Oh yeah?" Mark said. "Well I think those girls wouldn't know a pair of tits if they were smothercated by them," he said.

"MARK!" Rose gasped in shock. "That's rude"  
"Sorry," Mark explained apologetically. "I can't think straight, I've got a huge lump on my forehead"  
Rose gave a tentative giggle. "What?" she asked. "What did you do?"

"I picked a fight with a door," Mark explained. Rose burst into laughter. "The door won"  
"You big clumsy oaf," she replied. Mark smiled. "You're welcome," he responded. "For what?" Rose replied. "For cheering you up," Mark said. Rose laughed. "Thankyou."

"No problem squirt," Mark added. "You gonna be ok?" "I'll be fine now, it's you I'm worried about"  
"I'll be fine," Mark said. "It's just a bump to the head"  
"No, I'm talking about the door. They'll probably bill you for a replacement."

Mark laughed. "I'll just take it out of Glen's dinner bill. He thinks I paid for a meal for him and Amy tonight"  
"They're on a date!" Rose asked, suddenly alive with curiosity. "Yup," Mark answered. "Awesome!" She replied. "...Wish someone would do something like that for me"  
"Hey," Mark said comfortingly. "The right guy hasn't came along yet, that's all"  
"Yeah right, I'm always going to be alone," Rose said sadly. "Cheer up," Mark said. "Could be worse," he added. "How?" She said, interested. "You could be dating me." Rose burst out laughing. "What's funny?" Mark said. "Amy's dating a seven-foot swamp rat"  
"Hey! That's not nice," Rose replied. "Glen and Amy look cute together"  
Mark guessed Rose had seen the show and replied, "And I'm not cute"  
"Of course," Rose replied. "I think you'd look adorable in a gingham dress"  
This time Mark burst out laughing. "Anyway, I'd better go, you need your sleep, or you'll look like a Yeti tomorrow morning," Rose said. "Those girls were just jealous of you, squirt, take care of yourself okay?" Mark said. "And if they still keep bugging you, tell them I'll come have words with them." "Cool, the Undertaker as a bodyguard," Rose added. "Only if the money's good," Mark joked. "Goodnight, Mark," Rose said. "And thankyou"  
"No problems. And hey," Mark said as he sat up. "Next time I'm in town, I'll come pick you up from school, okay?" "Really? WHEN?" Rose said, alive with excitement.  
"Next week, we're in the Reliant Astrodome," Mark answered. Rose squeeked with anticipation. "See you then, squirt"  
"Bye, bigfoot."

Mark hung up the phone. He sniffed his armpit and recoiled from the stench. "Damn, I stink," he said. And he headed for the shower. 


	6. Chapter 6 To make up

Dark Angel: Chapter 6

Mark Calaway was extremely happy. He was happy that his career had picked back up without missing a beat, he was happy that he was back in his hometown, and he was happy that Rose had finally had her seventeenth birthday.

He was also happy as he rode down the road towards her school on the biggest and nastiest of all his bikes. He was going a little overboard on the theatrics, he thought. The bike was beefier than almost all of the others he owned & made an ungodly amount of noise as it powered down the road. The trenchcoat billowed over the back of the bike and blustered around in the wind like a cloak. The shades he wore made him look like a sinister enigma as he rode. All that seemed to be missing was the heavy metal soundtrack and the dark night.

But it was 3:30PM, and he was heading toward the school where Rose was. It would have been stupid to go there at night.

He pulled into the fence-enclosed parking lot near the schoolyard and brought his bike to a stop. He looked around, and sure enough, there was Rose. Surrounded by a gaggle of girls who were laughing and poking fun at her. Rose stood in a huddle, hugging her books and her bag close to her, trying to protect herself by making herself small.

Mark looked at the bullies. He felt sick. "Time to give them a taste of their own medicine."

He pulled the bike's throttle. A piercing roar emitted from its massive engine. Everyone nearby turned to look. Some of them recognised him and gasped, completely disbelieving that the Undertaker was at their school. None of the teachers had told them about this!

Mark slowly rode up to the parking bay in front of where Rose was standing. He turned off the bike, pocketed the key and dismounted. He walked slowly, vindictively, toward the little group of sixteen-year-old girls.

"So you must be the people who have been causing my Rose a few problems," he said, exaggerating the drawl. He was totally in character. The girls backed off to reveal a tearful Rose lewis.

"Mark!" she gasped, and ran straight to him, hiding herself in his trenchcoat and hugging him tightly. Rose looked up at him, relief etched onto her face. Mark looked down at her through the shades, one arm around her, and said, "it's okay, squirt, I'm here."

He looked at the little group, statuesque in the same formation they had been before he arrived. He told Rose to wait by the bike, and walked slowly up to them. He owned this schoolyard just like he owned the ring.

"You know something?" he said, taking off his glasses to glare at the girls, the tallest of whom was over a foot shorter than him. "I don't like bullies."

None of the girls moved. No-one but Mark moved. "And i especially don't like it when they try something with my friends...or my family."

He knew exactly what effect he was having on them and he was careful not to overdo it in any way.

"So listen," he said, fiercely. "You keep your jealousy, your problems and your hands to yourself. Because the next time I hear you've been picking on or beating on some innocent person, I'll make sure your parents know exactly who's to blame."

He stared at the scared little women near him for a few more seconds, for extra dramatic effect. Then he turned to go back to Rose.

"Come on, let's go," he said, replacing his sunglasses.

"Like you'd do anything," one of the girls bitched. "You're away all the time, and besides, we all know wrestling is fake."

Rose, still standing in front of Mark as he froze, grinned widely and laughed a little. "Ooh, she's gonna regret that..."

Mark turned around, slowly, head facing the ground. He walked right up to the girl, whose cockiness disappeared in an instant. She shook more with every step.

Mark knelt down to face her, looked over the rim of his glasses with a piercing stare, and said, "boo."

The girl screamed and ran. Mark stood up, sniggering. He walked back up to Rose. She could see the smile on his face.

Rose stood there laughing at the comical grin that had appeared on his face, he walked up to her and gave her hug. Not caring that everyone at her school saw him.

"Mark, people are watching.." Rose told him, thinking he may want to keep his reputation as the 'American Badass' intact.

"So im not at work. It can't get worse by giving a hug."

"Actually if you kissed me then it would make things worse."

"Hmmmm?" Mark stood in front of her, stroking his goatee like he had an idea. Rose suddenly became a little worried, it didn't show on her face as she was laughing at the pose he was doing.

"Mark get that idea out of your head."

"Which head?" he laughed. When he saw Rose blush he laughed even louder. He took her books and her bag out of her hands and put them in the side bags on his bike. Rose just stuck her tongue out at Mark after making her blush, Mark just laughed.

"So apart from the little incident just there, how was your day at school?" Mark asked her.

"It was good, how was your day?" she repiled.

"It was okay, was bored for the most of the day until i came to see you. So what do you want to do tonight then?"

"Haven't you got a show to do?"

"Nope, im free. So what do you want to do?"

"Go to the mall."

"So what do you want to do?" Rose laughed at the cringe on Mark's face. She leaned into him to balance herself on the back of the bike. "You're taking me to the mall bigfoot, that's an order," she said, still laughing.

"Yes ma'am," Mark replied. "...The things i do for people I care about."

"No, it's the things you do for the people you love," Rose replied. "Which reminds me, why did you give her such a huge shock?"

"Always wanted to do that to someone," Mark replied with a shrug.

The ride to the mall was short and sweet. Eventually they arrived and they walked over to the mall's entrance.

"I'm warning you," Mark said. "Don't buy anything big, I dont have much room on my bike for carry-ons."

Rose laughed and slipped her hand into his. "Come on, brother, let's go shopping."

"You got money?" Mark replied.

"No," Rose said innocently. "But you do."

Mark laughed. "Alright, I'll get you something. One present to make you feel better."

"Only one?" Rose said with the same cutie accent.

"Now you're just being greedy," Mark replied.

At the end of their trip Mark had trouble steering. Rose was keeping her balance well enough on the back, but it was the sheer amount of shopping on the bike's sidebags that was giving him a headache. He'd never drove so slowly. Not even during Driver's Ed.

"I can't believe you tried to dress me up in shorts, with a surfboard!" Mark said as they pulled up to Rose's home. She laughed. She had cheered up infinitely. "Your dad's going to kill me for how much money I've spent on you."

Rose lay in bed that night, feeling happy, feeling cheerful. She couldn't believe that Mark had actually done what he had to those other girls. He had been completely in-character. No one would believe the stories she could tell about him "behind the scenes" when he wasn't in character. She was glad to have Mark in her life.

Mark lay in his own bed that night, glad that Rose had cheered up. He cared for her and didn't like to see her upset, and he had been glad that she was feeling better. He also decided to keep in contact with her as much as he could.

Mark laughed. He felt like a dark angel. 


	7. Chapter 7 For the wait

Dark Angel Chapter 7:

Two years on, Mark was still on the road. He was still taking names and "making people famous", and the crowds in town after town after town were still loving his "badass" image and attitude.

He was back in Texas, in Austin, and he had just finished his match for the night. He was heading back toward his locker room in a sweat, looking forward to taking a cool shower and heading back to the hotel for a long sleep.

Annoyingly, a stagehand caught up with him, coming at a sprint to keep up with Mark's tall, striding walk.

"Mr McMahon wants to see you in the VIP room, as soon as you can," he said, slightly out of breath. Evidently he had been chasing him for a while. Mark smiled. He knew that if Glen had known HE was being chased by a staff member he would have walked even faster to escape them. Then he would have told Amy what had happened and the two would lounge in their locker room for hours, laughing about it.

Mark was more mature than that. He stopped, sighed frustratedly and turned around, heading for Vince's office. At length, he reached it. He knocked at the door and waited for Vince to call him in. Vince knew Mark wasn't the kind of guy who wanted to beat around the bush. He gestured to a chair and Mark took it. Vince looked serious as he clasped his hands lightly on the desk.

"This has been coming for a long time," Vince said. "Especially with your attitude and performance over the last few months."

Something inside Mark's head dropped. He looked deathly serious. Fear began to prickly touch the back of his neck. Vince suddenly brightened. "We're giving you a WWE Title shot," he said, leaning back and waiting for Mark's reaction.

Air rushed out of Mark's lungs with all the haste of a speeding freight train. He leaned forward as relief etched onto his face.

"You had me going for a second there," Mark told him with a mix of relief and resentment. It showed on his face as well as in his voice. It was hard to stop himself from glaring at Vince as the boss started to laugh.

"Sorry but the day has been long and boring for me, I have to take every chance at a laugh," Vince explained as he saw the look of concern on Mark's face. Mark eventually calmed down and ended up laughing himself.

"I thought I was getting fired for a second there," he replied with a smile on his face.

Mark was still happy as he rode back to the hotel he was staying at. He was finally getting a fresh short at the WWE Title. He was happy as he dismounted. He was happy as he walked up to the door. This time he didn't even whack his forehead off it as he made his way to his room.

He flung his bag absently into the corner, then sat on the bed. He lay there, content, for a few minutes. Then, entirely on a whim, he got out of the photoalbum and started idly flicked through it. Rose would be over the moon when he told her about the title shot.

He placed the album carefully under the bed and lay back to sleep. A dull ringing grogilly brought him to his senses. He vaguely recognised the phone and groped around. His sleep-dulled eyes barely managed to register the time. It was 2AM. THat was an insane time to call. He picked up the phone and gave a gravelly, muffled "Hello?"

"Mark?" came an extremely fearful and worried voice. "It's Ross. Rose is in hospital."

Mark's face went like concrete and even went pallid. He sat up in bed and the phone to his ear. "What." He said it with firm authority, not wonderment.

"She was out on the town with friends, she went to cross a road when she was hit by a pickup truck."

"Is she ok?" mark said with a few telltale signs of fear slipping through his voice. Ross told him tearfully that she had suffered massive damage to her spine. The doctors had no idea if she would ever move again, let alone walk.

"It's alright," Mark said at last. "I'm coming home." 


	8. Chapter 8

As soon as Ross hung up, Mark phoned vince and simply told him that he wouldnt be participating in any shows for at least a few months.

Vince didn't even ask for an explanation. Whether it was through fear at the anger and flat authority in Mark's voice, or simply because Vince knew Mark rarely ever asked for time off unless it was serious, Mark didn't give a rat's ass. He was barely listening as Vince bade him good luck and hung up the phone.

The feeling of isolation stayed with Mark right up until he stepped on the plane. The first possible flight back to Houston. He didn't even give himself time to settle in. He literally dumped his belongings at his house, then rushed with all possible speed to the hospital.

"Oh my GOD, You're THE UNDERTAKER!" was the first thing he heard as he stepped into the Hospital reception. A very ruffled Mark ignored the milling injured and relatives, and walked up to the reception desk, to stare into the eyes of a bedazzled young receptionist.

Mark wasn't really listening as she babbled on praising him, asking for autographs. He silenced her with a piercing stare, slamming his hands down on the desk sharply.

"I'LL GIVE YOU A GOD DAMN AUTOGRAPH LATER!" He said hastily. "JUST..." He took a steadying breath. "Tell me where Rose Lewis is."

The nurse took a few moments to recover from the shock of a seven-foot tall gargantuan man shouting at her. Then she started feverishly shuffling through papers until she found what she was looking for.

The nurse directed Mark to the Intensive Care suite. Mark paid no attention to anything else the nurse said. There was only one thing on his mind and it was Rose. He charged off to where he knew his little sister was lying, possibly paralyzed.

The fear and the denial raced through his mind as he entered the corridor and blustered into the room the Nurse had indicated. Ross and Lily were still sitting by the bed.

And there, comatose, was the pale form of Rose Lewis. A huge weight pulled on Mark's heartstrings as he looked at her. His face dropped.

Ross stood up. Like Lily's, his eyes were stained with tears. As though it took all his strength - and Mark felt sure it did - Ross told him Rose had been asleep since they brought her in.

Mark walked up to the bed and took Rose's soft, still-warm hand in his own. He looked adown at her lifeless body. Tears started forming in his eyes and rolled unabashedly down his cheeks. He thought that, maybe if he started talking to her, it would wake her.

"Hey little sis," Mark's shaky voice ventured. "Heard you had a fight with a truck." He laughed. A meagre, worried laugh. "You gonna wake up for me, mom and dad, baby girl?"

Rose continued to lie there, unmoving, unhearing. Mark stared.

"The doctors...told us they don't know whether she will be able to walk again...or even...move," Lily choked out, before she collapsed into Ross's side in tears. Ross looked at his daughter, held his wife, then started to cry again himself.

"Ross," Mark said slowly, not taking his eyes off Rose. "I feel so helpless. I want to help her...any way I can."

"Then go get some rest," Ross offered, gratitude flowing through him at Mark's pledge. "Come back in the morning. You must have flown straight into the hospital lobby."

Mark smiled an awkward, mirthless smile. Ross wasn't far from the truth. Eventually Mark looked at his friend.

"Will you call me if there's any change?"

"Sure," Ross promised. "Straight away."

"Alright then," Mark sighed. "Goodnight Ross, Goodnight Lily."

As mark started to walk away, the silence of the room was suddenly shattered by a huge, gasping breath. Lily's eyes lit up. Ross went into shock.

"MOM! DAD! ARE YOU THERE!" Rose was almost screaming. Mark's hand snapped back to his side, inches from the door. His head turned with a lightning-fast movement. Rose was awake!

"We're here, honey," Lily was saying, trying desperately to sound soothing but unable to mask her emotion and relief.

"Where Am I?" A panicked Rose asked. "Why...why can't I move? What happened?"

"You're in hospital, sweetie," Ross answered as he joined his wife at his daughter's side. "You were hit by a truck."

"Is Mark here?" Rose asked desperately. "I...I heard his voice..."

That was Mark's cue. He left the door without a second thought, and moved to the other side of the bed, opposite Rose's parents.

"I'm here," he said. At the very sound of his voice, Rose brightened. "I'm so glad you're awake squirt."

"What are you doing here?" Rose asked, her eyes locking on him. Mark could tell she was feeling an immense relief. "Why aren't you at work?"

"Your dad rang me and told me what happened to you. So I flew in as soon as I could," Mark answered.

"How long are you staying for"  
"How long do you want me to stay for"  
"I don't know," Rose looked pensieve. "Two weeks?" She asked, hoping it was reasonable.

Mark blew the idea of reasonability out of the water. "How about two months."

"Two Months!" Rose exclaimed in happy surprise.

"Yup," Mark said in an accent that made him sound like Arnold Schwarzenegger."You got me for two whole months. No medicine can cure that."

Rose laughed. Mark felt an enormous feeling of comfort and happiness, pure reassurance, sweep over him as he saw her smile. Even when the doctor came in to tell them all that she would be confined to a wheelchair, for an unknown amount of time. Perhaps even permanently. Her spine had swollen considerably at its base and her legs would be paralysed unless the damage healed. IF it healed.

Mark's phone began to ring as Rose squeezed his hand, as if to say "I'm going to beat this." Mark squeezed back, replying silently, "And I'll be right here with you."

Mark stepped to one side to let Ross and Lily tend to Rose, and answered the phone.

"Hello"  
"Mark? It's Glen," Came the familiar voice of Glen Jacobs. Mark had been wondering when he'd call. "Where are you"  
"Houston hospital," Mark replied, calmly, as if it were totally normal for him to be AWOL. "What are you doing there?" Glen said, dumbfounded. "Rose is here"  
"Why?" Glens answer changed from demanding anger to respectful worriment. "What happened"  
"She was out with friends..." Mark said, rubbing his eyes. "She got hit by a truck"  
"Oh man," Glen said, in total shock. "Take...take as much time as you need man. I'll talk to vince"  
"Thanks, Glen. Dont worry about Rose. She's strong. She'll be fine."

Both men said their goodbyes and hung up. Mark put his phone in his pocket. He looked over at Rose and her family. A family he felt he was part of.

He swore to himself that he would help Rose fight and get better, make her stay happy in any way ppossible. He would not let her go through this alone.

One way or another, Mark vowed, his Little Sister would walk again. 


	9. Chapter 9

TWO WEEKS LATER

Mark and Rose sat on Mark's sofa, in his spacious living room. To Mark's grateful surprise, Ross and Lily had agreed that Rose should spend some time with Mark as he was closer to her than any of her friends, and because he was like family to her. They didn't mind that mark was 33 and Rose was only 19. They had trusted him ever since he had moved into the neighbourhood. They had let him take care of Rose since she was a very little girl.

The two sat eating icecream and watching King Kong, one of Marks favourite films. LUckily it was the new version, so Rose didn't mind. Rose was still unable to walk.

Rose was tackling her condition with all the rage and independance of a woman with permanent PMS. She refused all help she was offered, determined to get by on her own. She sometimes let Mark help her around and other things, but she was determined not to let herself get down and dependent on others.

"Mark, let go of me!" she had argued as Mark had tried to lift her to the comfortable sofa. "I'll do it myself!"

"Suit yourself," Mark answered to a giggling, kicking Rose. Then he promptly released her. Rose had leaned back into the chair, then the phone had rang. Mark had gone to answer it, and while he was gone, Rose dragged herself out of the chair and landed in a heap on the floor. Instead of lying there feeling sad and sorry for herself, she had actually laughed. And she reached, inch by inch, for the DVD player. Her tongue had stuck out a little bit, as though she were a kid trying to get to the cookie jar.

Finally she had managed to put the DVD into the player and hauled herself back onto the sofa.

When Mark had came in, the look on his face had been hilarious. Complete shock and wonderment. If he hadn't been at the hospital for the diagnosis then he might almost have thought she was making the whole chair-bound thing up. He laughed and asked her how she had got to the sofa. Rose had dodged the question and instead asked for ice cream. And that was how they had ended up watching King Kong and munching on Raspberry Swirl.

"You finished with the ice cream yet, short stuff?" Mark asked, licking his bowl clean.

"Yeah I am," Rose returned, watchinghim lick the thing clean. "King Kong."

Mark growled, which made Rose burst out laughing. He let himself smile. He loved that sound. THe sound of her being happy. The sound of determination and a blatant sign that the accident had done nothing to break her spirits.

He put the Ice Cream away and came back into the living room, sitting next to her.

"SO," he said in a voice which made Rose jump a little. "What d'you want to do today?"

"There's not much I can do, is there?" Rose said. Her voice suddenly sounded distraught.

"What do you mean?" Mark asked, genuinely mystefied.

"I can't walk, can I?" Rose clarified irritably.

"So?" Mark said. "It doesn't mean you can't do stuff girls your age usually do."

"Yes it does!" Rose retorted. "I can't.. I can't do anything!"

"No, It doesn't!" Mark replied, his voice raised a little. The sound of it sent Rose into shock. She had never heard Mark shout before. She shut up straight away. "Rose Lewis," he went on, "you have NEVER been a quitter. And I sure as hell am not gonna let you start now!"

"Why?" Rose said, overcoming the shock and looking sad.

"Because since I first saw you, I knew that you would become a strong young woman."

""For what?" he said, his voice calm and curious. 

"For believing in me."

Mark wrapped an arm around her shoulder and hugged Rose tightly. "Come on," he said, shaking her a little so she giggled. "What d'you wanna do?"

"Hmm..." Rose mulled it over, before answering in a way which made Mark's heart drop. "I wanna go shopping."

"I wish I hadn't mentioned you doing things girls do," Mark said defeatedly with a comical sigh.

"Too bad," Rose said, suddenly cheery again. "You just did."

"Damn!"

"Now," Rose said, giggling. "Do you want to help me into my wheelchair, and we'll get going?"

"How about this instead?" Mark said. And before Rose had a chance to object, Mark picked her up off the sofa and walked through the house, right out the front door. He opened his truck with one arm, leaving Rose looking momentarily like a ventriliquist's doll. He then put her into the passenger seat with deliberate care. After closing her door, he went back inside, picked up her wheelchair, folded it and carried it back outside, before stowing it in the back of the truck.

They drove to the mall, whereupon Rose insisted that Mark did not push her. They both got a lot of looks, and understood why. Mark was seven feet tall. With Rose pushing 4 feet in the wheelchair, the size difference was surprising and left some people wondering how she had been confined there in the first place. The situation only got more bizarre after Mark answered some people with "she had her legs taken out from under her and was on her back for 6 hours," referring of course to how long she had been in hospital.But Rose laughed almost too loudly as she managed to twist what Mark had said.

Rose stopped at a shoestore, staring at a pair of leather boots. "I love those boots," she confessed to Mark. "I've wanted them for god-knows how long."

Mark insisted on buying her the boots as a "get well soon" present. Rose was too overwhelmed with happiness to feel any stubborn wanton rejection. She cradled the bag containing her new footwear so close to her heart it may as well have been a child. Mark could have sworn he even caught her sniffing the leather.

When Mark eventually took Rose home, her parents were overjoyed to see Rose happy again. After Rose had went to bed, Mark stayed in the living room with Lily and Ross, to ask if he could take Rose on tour with him after his Two Month vacation was over. To his surprise and happiness, Lily and Ross didn't hesitate to give him permission. Even though there was originally skepticism in their eyes about the violence.

Mark sat back, and wondered what Rose would say. But he also had an ulterior motive. Rose had been strong, unbelievably strong, these past few weeks. He had an idea for a new career for her, but that would be his secret.

Until the time was right. 


	10. Chapter 10 NEW VERSION

The Day Mark Left For The Tour...

Rose was woken up at 8AM by something that sounded like a street evangelist was giving a sermon in her room. She pulled the blanket away to see that the Street Evangelist was in fact Mark, and for some reason, he had a very happy look on his face.

"What d'you want, bigfoot?" Croaked a sleepy Rose. "Come on, get up and get ready," Mark said, almost jumping on the spot. It was a very strange way to behave so early in the morning. "Get up?" Rose objected. "Why? Where are we going?"

"You're coming on tour with me, so get up and get ready"  
"But I haven't packed any- WHAT!" Rose suddenly realised what Mark said.

Before Mark could answer, Lily entered the room. "I packed your bags last night honey, you should have enough for the road."

"Mom?" Rose asked in disbelief. "You're actually okay with this?" She added, happy but overwhelmed.

"Of course," Lily answered with a smile. "You'll enjoy it. And Mark will take care of you so, why should I say no?"

"Now hurry up, short stuff," Mark said. "We got to move. There's a plane leaving at 10:30AM with our name on it."

Mark left Rose in peace with her mother as she got ready. While he was waiting, he packed his and Rose's gear in the back of his Corvette Silverado. Barely an hour later, they were on their way to the airport. Once they arrived, Mark took the bags and they checked in. Whilst the two waited for the boarding call, Rose satisfied her curiosity.

"Mark, where exactly are we going?"

"New York," Mark answered, thumbing through the Show Card and Programme that Vince had mailed him that morning. "We're going to Madison Square Garden."

"Oh cool!" Rose said. She had been in love with that place ever since she was a little girl, but had never had the chance to see it for real. "So, who are you up against?" she asked, leaning over his shoulder to look at the script.

"Triple H," Mark said, with an amused smile. "Vince has a thing for nostalgia, I guess." He was of course referring to the time Mark literally beat the blood right out of Triple H, Back home in Houston.

"I remember that match," Rose said, knowing what he was talking about and staring into space. "I got really worried when he split your head open."

"You don't need to worry about me, sis, I can take care of myself," Mark said, putting an arm around her shoulder to comfort her.

"You're my big, hairy brother, Mark. Of course I'm gonna worry about you."

"Well this hairy brother wants a hairy hug," Mark joked. Rose laughed and hugged him tightly, and he did the same.

Eventually their flight number was called. Mark looked at Rose, and in a comically wild-west drawl, asked her if she was ready to go to New York.

"Why yes, sir, I am," Rose returned through laughter. "Well then we'd better move y'all out," Mark replied.

Both of them burst out laughing, feeling like children.

After a long, quiet flight...

"MARK! ROSE!" A booming voice called over the milling crowd at the airport's parking area. "HEY! OVER HERE!"

Mark looked around for the source of the voice, which wasn't hard considering his size, and spotted Glen waiting for them next to a limo in the valet area. Mark shuttled Rose and the porter bearing their luggage trolley over to the parked car.

Rose stared up at Glen. "Oh my god, Glen!" She exclamed as she finally recognised him. Glen leaned down and gave her a hug. "It's so good to see you!"

"You too," Glen answered happily. "Last time I saw you you were 12 years old and dripping from pool water," he laughed.

"It was your fault, you threw me in there," Rose laughed. Glen coughed, defeated. Rose changed the subject after a short laugh.

"So how are you doing?" she asked. "Pretty damn well," Glen answered happily. "Got myself a girlfriend"  
Rose's face lit up. "Really? Who"  
"Amy Dumas."

"Lita!" Rose's mind translated. "Wow, go Glen," she said with a wink. Glen blushed.

"Yeah It's great," he said after a moment of embarrassed laughter. "Now all we gotta do is set Mark up with someone."

"What?" Mark chimed in, looking up from packing the limo at the sound of his voice. "Set me up? Set-" he realised what had been said. "I'll do that when I'm good and ready, you nosy fart," Mark said, thrusting a bag into Glen's abdomen with a laugh.

Rose couldnt help a guffaw as the bag winded Glen.

"Yeah," said Glen as they all got into the Limo. "That's good too."

The Limo whisked them away from the airport, and once again they were Back on the Road. 


	11. Chapter 11 & Author's Note

Author's note:

We've probably gotten a few details wrong with the last couple of chapters, probably because I wrote and published them in the very late hours of the night, so my brain wasn't working properly. Sorry all for any discrepancies in the "history" (nods at Takerslady ;) ). I am however perfectly aware of Kane's mask being whole at the time all this is happening, but it's a personal preference thing. My favourite version of Kane's costume was long hair and half-mask, the one he wore upon his return when Goldust and Booker T interupted the Unamericans. So hence, that bit is in there because of Creative Liscence. Mwahahaha.

Once again I dont take credit for any chars in here, they all belong to the WWE, etc etc.

On with the show!

Chapter 11

They arrived at the arena at Six O'Clock that night, Rose had been very impressed with the Hotel Room. Mark was finding it increasingly bemusing to understand exactly how his Little Sister felt about her condition - one moment she refused any assistance he offered, the next she was all to happy to be waited on and ferried around like a princess.

Of course Mark had made jokes about that. When they had gotten off the plane, Rose had actually asked him to push her wheelchair around, and Mark had said "Sure, and next time we'll travel first class, huh, Cinderella?". Rose had looked spiteful for a second, then burst out laughing. She always seemed to do that. It was one of many habits Mark had labelled a "Rose Thing".

He had watched Rose as she wheeled herself around the small but luxurious suite, almost ecstatic about the feeling of being on the Road with the Undertaker. Mark explained that, although the suites were nice most of the time, it was still a much better feeling to sleep at home in one's own bed.

Rose said she wanted to go and explore the arena. Mark gave her a thumbs up, and Rose headed out of the locker room door to let him get ready for his match.

As she was rolling around the maze of corridors backstage, she came accross a face she had hated since she had first seen it.

The face of Paul Levesque, Triple H. And not only had he spotted her, but he was heading over towards her.

"Well hello there, young lady," Triple H's voice was almost a growl. Rose suddenly felt very scared, she backed her chair against the wall as Paul beared down upon her.

"Um...hi," she stammered, so scared she was shaking. "You looking for someone"  
"No, actually," Rose choked out, thinking hard about Mark. The image gave her strength. "Or do you already know who you're looking for?" Triple H Leered. He started to lean into Rose's face. Rose started to shake violently and tried to look away.  
"I...I came here with someone," Rose stammered in reply. "Oh yeah?" Paul's curiosity was piqued. "Who"  
"Me, Dumbass," A voice suddenly thundered from a way off down the corridor. Triple H recognised it instantly and so did Rose. But while Triple H reacted with annoyance and a slice of fear, Rose was relieved and grateful. Triple H reeled round and came face-to-face with the imposing bulk of Mark Calaway.

"What the hell do you think you're doing," Mark said slowly. "PAUL!" He deliberately spat in Levesque's face. Insulted, Paul wiped the spray off his cheeks and nose and looked up at Mark.

"Oh sorry, didn't realise this was your bitch." The very sound of the words made Mark's eyes flare. "Watch your damn mouth, you moron, or I might just decide to screw the match later on tonight and kick the living hell out of your saggy ass right now."

Levesque backed down at that last remark. He leered at Rose again. "See you later,darlin'," he said with sick pleasure. Then he left.

Mark stared after him. "Everybody has to pretend like they got a set," he complained. "Whadda bunch of Dumbasses." He looked at Rose, who had giggled a little, but was still shaken up. Mark dropped to his knees, genuine concern on his face. "Hey sis, are you alright?" He asked, putting a hand on her knees to comfort her.

Slowly, Rose took the hand in her own, and felt more comfortable when she did. "I am now you're here," she said, the shakiness in her voice quickly disappearing.

"Come on," Mark said gently. "Let's get you back to my locker room," he said.

"Mark, can I ask you a favour?" Rose asked as he wheeled her back down the corridor.

"Sure, name it squirt," he replied.

"Can I have a hug?" she asked. Mark saw the tears in her eyes. She really was badly shocked.

"Of course darlin'," Mark said. He stopped the chair and knelt by her side, wrapping his arms around her. Rose instantly snuggled into him. She flung her arms around him. Mark sensed the fear coming off her in waves and held onto her tight, caressing her back to comfort her. Rose cried a little to get it out of her system.

When she pulled away, Mark smiled. Immediately a grin plastered itself to Rose's face.

"Feeling better now?" Mark asked. Rose nodded happily.

"Thanks Mark."

"No problem, squirt."

Mark rolled her back towards his locker room, vowing that Triple H would pay dearly for scaring his little sister. 


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12.

After a very short but extremely brutal match, a victorious Mark Calaway and Rose Lewis arrived at their hotel suite at Nine PM. They both chilled out on their beds, eating food ordered from Room Service and watching TV. Rose's wheelchair was folded and packed under her bed.

Rose suddenly let out a belch. It was barely audible. Mark laughed. "Come on Rose, that was miserable," he said through guffaws.

"Oh yeah?" Rose said in challenge. "Think you can do better?"

Mark complacently set down his chickenwing, cleared his throat, and tapped his chest. "Watch, listen, and learn." 

Rose laughed and then stayed quiet to watch.

Mark let fly a collossal belch, loud enough almost to shake the room. It lasted for a full ten seconds, thanks to him moving his mouth and his head to get as much out as possible.

"Thankyou, Thankyou very much," Elvised Mark, smugly. He resumed eating his chicken.

"Mark," Rose said after a seemingly-endless fit of laughter. "Can I ask you a personal question?" She looked at him and quickly added, "you don't have to answer if you don't want to."

Mark set his plate aside and lay back into the bed, relaxing. "Course you can."

"Why don't you have a girlfriend?"

"No one's caught my eye I guess," Mark answered, letting out another, considerably quieter, belch.

"How long ago did you last date someone?"

"About four years ago."

"What happened to her?" Rose asked, curiosity rushing through her.

"She decided one man wasn't enough for her," Mark replied.

"She cheated on you?" Rose said in disbelief.

"Yup," Mark said blandly. THere was a pause. Rose wasn't sure whether she should ask...

"Who was it with?"

"Paul Levesque," Mark said simply. He'd seen that question coming. 

"Triple H!"

"Yep, Him."

"Oh Mark," Rose was suddenly swept up by guilt. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked.

"Quit babbling, you little Queen," Mark said laughingly. "It's fine. Besides, I'm glad I found out what she was really like. Otherwise I'd have married a Whore."

"Oh, god...yeah, that's...hold up, who you callin' a queen? It was YOU who woke up with makeup on your face!" She retorted.

"Pfft," Mark waved his hand dismissively. "Only cause you put it on me in the first place."

Rose looked like she was going to answer but her mouth froze in a silent "O".

"So how about you?" Mark asked, satisfied enough that he'd won the argument to change the subject.

Rose looked like she'd just returned to Earth from orbit. "What?"

"How's your love life?"

"Non-existent," Rose replied. Mark looked at her in disbelief.

"Why not?"

"I'm not the kind of girl guys want to date. I'm too much of a 'tough chick'." She even mimed bunny-rabbit-ears. Mark wanted to laugh.

"The hell do they all call you that for?" he asked.

"I wear big boots, baggy pants and tank tops. I don't have a problem with getting my hands dirty." 

"Hell I know several guys who would go for exactly that. You almost sound like Amy Dumas. And she has thousands of guys after her."

Rose looked at him quizically. "Yeah, but she's pretty."

"Hey," Mark interrupted. "Don't you dare say you aren't pretty because you are."

Rose brightened. "No one's ever said it quite like that before," she laughed.

Mark looked indifferent. "Well they should say it a lot, because it's true." He looked over at her. There was nothing but truth in his eyes. "Don't go emo on me girl, or I'll have to spank the living hell out of you."

"Sounds like fun," Rose joked back. Mark's face went suddenly blank.

"So what else are you interested in that most guys apparently don't go for?" he hastily asked. Rose laughed at his desire to change the subject.

"I like cars, bikes, metal music," Rose said, munching through her last chickenwing. "But I love the blues."

"Ditto," Mark chimed in. Rose raised an eyebrow. "I love the blues," Mark added.

"Cool," Rose replied.

"So have you ever had a boyfriend before?" Mark asked. Rose blushed.

"No," she said. "I think It's cause I don't wear makeup...you know, 'normal girl stuff.' Maybe I'm a freak."

Mark snorted. "You? A Freak? Honey, you're talking to a man that used to wear black makeup all over his face and pretend to be the Grim Reaper."

Rose chortled. "Yeah, but that was for the show."

"So?" Mark countered. "Thousands of people saw me like that."

"I still feel like I am a freak, y'know...for never having a boyfriend."

"You're not," Mark said firmly. "You just have high standards, and none of the hollow, superficial trash in this world has yet proven themselves worthy of you."

"You really think so?" Rose brightened.

"Yes, I do," Mark said, with calm authority. Rose calmed down and felt happier. Mark got up to take care of their empty plates.

As he did so, one of their forks slipped off the side of the plate, and hit Rose on the shin.

"Ouch!" Rose said. "That thing is still warm."

"Must have been some hot food," Mark quipped. He bent down to pick up the fork.

"Nice view," Rose said jokingly as she caught a full stare of Mark's buttocks.

Then it hit him.

"Hold up," he said, straightening up. "Did...did you feel that?"

Rose realised too. Her face was wide with surprise. Mark put the plates down onto the coffee table and turned back to her.

Mark knelt down between Rose's knees and started to massage her calves. "You feel that?" he asked.

Rose's face was dancing with happiness. "Yes.." she said, softly at first, but then again, with more confidence.

Mark allowed a brief smile of cautious optimism. "Gimme one of your legs."

Rose concentrated, face twisted up in effort. Slowly, agonisingly slowly, she inched out her left leg towards Mark's right hand.

Mark took ahold of her leg at the ankle.

"Rose, open your eyes."

Rose stared down at her leg. She had moved it! She could feel Mark's warm touch against her skin!

"Oh my god, Mark, I...I can feel it! I...I can move my legs."

"I'm taking you to hospital," Mark said suddenly.  
"What? Why"  
"Because if you've got the feeling back in your legs, they may need to X-Ray your spine to see if the swelling has gone down," Mark explained as he unfolded her wheelchair.

"Come on, let's go," he said, and wheeled her to his truck, before they set off for the hospital. 


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13.

The doctor came into the waiting room where Mark was waiting for the results from Rose's X-Ray. Behind him came Rose herself, still on her wheelchair.

"We have some brilliant news, Mr. Calaway," the doctor said brightly. "Rose, perhaps you'd like to show him yourself?"

Rose nodded with a smile, and right before Mark's bewildered eyes, she gingerly laid a hand on each of her chair's armrests. Then, with caution, she kicked aside the footrests, laid her feet on the floor tenderly, and gently, slowly, raised herself up and out of the chair, until she was standing on her own two feet.

Mark looked on in unabashed amazement. Rose beamed. Mark grinned. Rose giggled. Mark laughed. Rose blushed. Mark stood up, walked over to her, and caught her in a tight hug. Rose squeeked.

"Mr Calaway!" The doctor interupted. "Although the swelling has gone down enough for her to walk, her spinal tissue is still tender, so you must take..."

Mark was totally ignoring the doctor's advice and the man didn't realise it until he had finished his sentence. He was so happy, Rose was so happy.

"Don't worry, doc, he'll be a good boy, or else he'll get no treats," Rose joked.

Mark smiled, then suddenly his face went like a prune. "Hey!" He added. "What's that supposed to me-"

"Rose will be fine to walk from now on," the Doctor cut in. "But for the first couple of weeks she should take care. I recommend you keep the wheelchair handy, just in case," he added.

Rose made a face of disgust. Mark laughed. "Doctor's orders. Be a good girl, or no treats for you, either."

She looked fleetingly spiteful. Both of them wondered why they had just had such a strange conversation. Rose was Mark's "little sister". Mark was Rose's "Big Brother." It suddenly didn't feel right to talk to each other like that.

"I'll show you a good girl," Rose said. Mark still hadn't let go of her, but before he could reply, his phone rang.

Irritatedly Mark let go of her and answered the call with a grumbling "Hello?"

"Mark? It's Lily. I just tried to call Rose's cellphone, but she didn't answer. Is she -"

"She's right here with me," Mark cut in. "We're in hospital."

Lily went quiet for exactly one second, then burst out, "Oh my god! What happened? Is she okay!"

Mark laughed a little. "She's fine Lily, she's walking over to the vending machine to grab herself a soda."

Lily suddenly realised what Mark had said and her fear was replaced by total overjoyed fanaticism. "Oh god, that's great news!" she orgasmed down the phone.

"Hey hey, take it easy, you're deafening me over here," Mark said, holding the phone a few inches away from his ear. "Here, talk to Rose."

Rose was almost skipping back towards Mark with a can in her hand. She eagerly took the phone from him and pirouetted down onto a nearby seat.

So much for taking it easy, Mark thought. Crazy Girl.

Rose was still talking to her mother and father when she and Mark arrived at their hotel room. When she eventually finished the call and bid her goodnights to her parents, she was still as happy as she was when she realised she could move her legs. Mark was standing next to his bed pulling the covers back as he climbed in, he turned to Rose and told her the bathroom was free. She grabbed her pajamas, which he thought was werid to call them that, as they were only a tanktop and pajama bottoms and got changed in the bathroom. She came out and flung her old clothes onto her suitcase. She saw Mark was watching the tv and didn't see her come back into the room. She stepped back and ran towards his bed and jumped on it. Mark let out an "ooomph" as she landed on him. She straddled his hips while steadying herself with her hands on his uncovered chest. Mark lay back with his hands behind his head and smiled. He knew that Rose was very happy being able to walk again as Rose, himself and her parents didn't know whether Rose would of been able to walk again.

"I take it your very pleased with the diagnosis then?"

"How did you guess?"

"Well maybe because of how you just ran and jumped on me."

Rose giggled. "Hey, that might be because of something other than a diagnosis," she joked. There was a glint in her eye.

Mark knew he was supposed to feel wierd, uncomfortable in this situation, and perhaps he did somewhere in the back of his mind. But right now, he was feeling too happy and too good.

He rested his hands on Rose's hips. She gently bit her lips, feeling the friction between the two of them between her legs.

"Bed time," Mark said after a very long while. Rose looked at him. Both were red faced, and embarrassed. "We're up at 6AM."

Rose guffawed. "No we're not, tomorrow's your day off!"

Mark went on unperturbed. "Still, we've got a long drive tomorrow."

"Not tomorrow, three days from now," Rose gigglingly corrected him. "You're losing your memory in your old age."

That did it. Mark flipped the squealing, laughing Rose over and leaned over her on all fours. "Who you callin' old?"

Rose didn't answer. Her eyes were lightly closed, and she was visibly squirming a little. Mark looked down on her and found the situation oddly...

He rolled onto his back. It shouldn't feel right. It shouldn't feel right! Not with her.

He masked his discomfort by shoving her off the bed. Rose squeaked and landed giggling in a heap on the floor. Mark leaned over the side of the bed to look at the newly-dischevelled Rose.

"You look like you've been having fun in a back alley," Mark joked. Rose looked up at him with a wierd mix of confusion, embarassment, surprise and humour on her face.

"You wish," she countered. Mark raised an eyebrow.

"Pfft, like you would be complaining," he said.

Rose burst out laughing.

"Come on," Mark said finally. "Bed."

Rose crawled her way onto her bed and Mark went to the bathroom. When he came back, she was fast asleep. He turned off the room's lights, looking at her silhouetted a little in the one remaining lightsource - his table lamp.

He smiled, then looked away as he sat down to take off his jeans and get into bed.

"Mark..." Rose whispered dreamily. Mark looked quickly behind him, at her smiling, sleeping face. Then he looked back.

"I'm hearing things in my old age," he said to himself. And he got into bed to sleep. 


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14.

It was just after 3AM. All was dark. But Mark was half-awake. He felt decidedly odd. He could usually feel his feet poking out from underneath the bedsheets. He could usually feel his arms hanging close to the edges of the bed as he sprawled.

It was odd because he wasn't sprawled. His arms and his legs didn't feel cold with the chill of the night air in the hotel room. It was also odd because he could feel someone - or something - pushing against his body, curled up against his torso and his legs.

His eyes opened as grudgingly as a rusty garage door. He squinted into the very sparse light, and made out a large, black, blurry lump in front of his eyes. After a few minutes, his eyes groggily resolved the black lump into the shape of a person.

Mark's first instinct was to recoil. There was a complete stranger in the bed next to him now, whereas the bed was for him alone when he had went to sleep. What scared and bemused him even more was that this was a woman.

Where the hell had he gotten himself a woman? Had he went sleep-walking, down to the foyer, grabbed a random fan and sleepily offered them the chance to sleep with him?

God he hoped not. Not least because of the publicity. But mostly because of Rose.

Oh god.

Rose!

What would she think if she found out? What would she say? She'd be disgusted. Mark cringed. Here he was in bed with a total strange woman, who by the feel of it wasn't wearing very thick pajamas underneath the duvet, and Rose was a mere 3 feet away behind his curled up body.

He realised he was curled up against this person too. His arm was over her stomach. He could feel the press of her smooth, creamy skin against his own. The soft, gentle swell of her pert buttocks was pressing against his crotch.

Mark corrected himself. He wasn't in bed with a total complete stranger. He was in bed with a total, complete, sexy stranger.

But he'd never had a hooker in his life. It had been a moral principle for him. And yet what if his subconcious had played a cruel joke on him? Had it conspired to drag a whore into bed with him then promptly wake him up to the scene of horror before him?

The silhouetted woman squirmed in the bed, trying to get more comfortable. She pressed against Mark even more, apparently finding comfort and solace in being near to him.

Her hair almost went up his nose. He couldn't help but take a whiff of the scent.

Lavender.

Hold up.

There was only one person Mark had ever known in his life to have lavender-scented hair.

An awful thought hit him. In blind panic, his head snapped round as far as it could to see Rose's bed. All that was in it was a heap of empty duvets.

He was in bed with Rose! And by the looks of things, he hadn't been objecting!

'Well, at least I'm not a sleepwalker who goes out whore-hunting,' Mark thought to himself.

After he thought about it, he realised he felt oddly comfortable sleeping with her up against him like this, holding her like a teddy bear. It made him feel childish to think that but it was as close to the truth as he could get in his sleepy state.

He looked over a little at Rose's face. She was smiling, content. The sight of her blissful smile made something inside Mark move like a mewing cat. He could almost hear it purring.

He lay back down. He had an odd urge to roll over and snuggle into her too, and wrap his arms around her.

After a while he gave up struggling and gave into the urge. He lay against her, cradling her from behind, and wrapped his arms around her stomach.

Subconciously, Rose entangled her hands in his. And Mark fell happily asleep.

When he woke up, Mark's hand was wrapped around thin air, and it was daylight. He briefly wondered if the whole thing had been a dream. He looked around lazily, until he heard a voice.

"Thought you could use some breakfast," said Rose. Mark sniffed and smelled the sweet, enticing scent of pancakes with honey. Instantly invigorated, he sat up.

Rose put the tray gently in his lap. Mark started to eat with relish, muffling his thanks through a mouthful of pancake. He was halfway through the plate when he suddenly realised she was standing next to him.

Rose gave a little smile as she saw him stare up at her, confused. She pulled the hem of her nightgown over her left leg to shield it from the draught. Mark caught himself looking at where there had formerly been an enticing glimpse of creamy flesh, and wondered if last night really HAD happened.

"You're standing up," Mark said, wrenching his eyes away from Rose's legs. "Why are you standing up? The doctor said you should take it easy for a couple of months."

Rose giggled. Completely out of character. It would have sounded more appropriate on a schoolgirl but not her. It had to be the look of confusion on Mark's face that did it. But she didn't know the real reason for that confusion.

"I feel fine," she said happily. "There's not even any pain." She kept staring at the look he gave her as she spoke, finding it hard to contain her laughter.

Mark finally managed to shunt the confusion (at least for the moment) out of his mind. He replaced the surprise with a cheesy grin. "Then we should celebrate," he said eventually. He patted the bed next to her so she could sit down. As she did, he was suddenly certain that he HAD slept with her next to him the night before. The feeling was too strong to be just a dream.

"It's my day off today," Mark said, stuggling to hide what was going through his mind.

"I know, it was me that reminded you last night, bigfoot," Rose said. Mark's face went blank, then he clicked on, coughed, looked embarrassed for a second, and laughed. Rose looked at him and couldnt stop a laugh of her own.

"Anyway, since we don't have to go anywhere for a couple of days," Mark said, "how about we have some fun?" He supressed a childish laugh as he saw Rose squirm happily, making it obvious that she liked the idea.

"Shall we ask Glen and Amy to come too?" Rose asked as she twisted round to face him. Mark said he didn't mind asking them to come along, but some part of him felt let down that it wouldn't be just her and him. He made sure he didn't reveal that feeling to her.

Instead, he just smiled and watched her get up and grab the hotel room's phone. Her face looked happy, maybe even joyous as she dialled the number to reach Glen. As the phone picked up, a cranky voice greeted her.

"If this isn't an insanely gorgeous woman, then I'm hanging up," Glen said groggily. Rose couldn't help a laugh.

"Even at this time of day, you're still in bed?" She replied. She heard Glen laugh as he realised who it was.

"I'm a heavy sleeper."

"At least your sense of humour is working," Rose quipped. Glen growled in mock indignation. Rose wen on unhindered. "Are you and Amy free today?"

After a few muffled seconds, Glen mumbled a "yes", and wondered why Rose had asked. She explained that she and Mark were planning to go out for the day. The line fuzzed and she heard Amy speaking.

"I heard there was a carnival in town,"she said, sounding a bit more awake than Glen.

"Sounds great!" Rose said happily. She looked at Mark, making a silly face. Mark had no idea what she was talking about and looked a bit mystefied as she hung up the phone.

"Well?" He asked curiously.  
"We're all going out," Rose announced.  
"Where to"  
"The Carnival," she said with a little squirm.

Mark groaned and rolled over, blowing air futilely to try and stop his hair falling over his face. He was now lying flat on his stomach. Rose mimicked the groan and dropped down to the bed next to him.

"Come on, Sasquatch," she joked. "It'll be fun!" Mark's only reply was another groan.

Rose tried to look into his eyes. "Pwetty Please?" she pleaded, with the most angelic, cute face she could muster. Mark lazily grabbed a pillow and dropped it on her head, to the sound of muffled laughter.

Rose tossed the pillow aside, got up and jumped on his back, making Mark give an "Oof!"

"Come on," she said repeatedly, pushing on Mark's shoulderblades with her hands so he began to bounce on the bed. Mark started to laugh with the silliness of the situation, wondering how she was doing it, and enjoying the moment.

"Quiddit," Mark muffled. "Someone might get the wrong idea."

Rose gave a guffaw of laughter but didn't stop. "How come? I'm not equipped for that," she joked.

Mark didn't know what made him do it, but he decided to "set things right". He flipped over underneath her, then put his hands on her waistline and flipped her over, until she was on her back underneath him.

"See now THIS could be taken the wrong way," Rose giggled, her hands resting lightly on his arms. Mark didn't say anything. He had just realised the position the two were in and was a little perplexed.

Rose looked up at him, concerned. "Mark?" She asked. "Are you okay?"

"What?" Mark said, tumbling back down to earth. Rose burst out laughing.

"So are you coming to the carnival or what?" She said. "Come on."

She started tickling his ribs. Mark began to squirm. Then he decided to get his own back. He leaned back on his thighs, then started relentlessly tickling Rose.

"Alright! Alright!" He said in a croaky drawl. "I'll go." He laughed at the squirming, manically laughing Rose beneath him. "Tap!" he said, before putting on a parody of his own character accent. "Tap out, or I'll make you famous!"

Rose gasped for air, hammering the matress with her hands. "Famous?" she guffawed whenever she could. "Famous for what? Being the first personin history to tap out to tickling?"

Mark laughed. "It's not tickling, it's my new submission technique," Mark joked. "I was thinking of using it in my next match."

For a fleeting moment, Rose thought he was serious. "Yeah, I'm sure you'd get a great reaction."

Mark stood up and started putting his clothes on.

"Come on, we'd better get ready to go." 


	15. Chapter 15

The sun shone down benignly on the four friends as they drove to the Carnival grounds. They would have looked strange to anyone who saw them; two seven-foot men with two barely-six-feet women. Mark and Glen looked more like a pair of bodyguards than friends.

All four had a good laugh about this idea as they headed down the open freeway. Mark complained constantly about his lack of legroom, pushing his seat so far back that Rose had to perch her heels on the edge of her seat, then back again.

As Rose talked to Amy about what it was like to live the life of a WWE Diva, Mark gazed through the window. Glen needed to concentrate because he rarely drove manual shift. Mark didn't mind, inwardly; it gave him a chance to think. What had happened the night before, as well as earlier that day, was weighing heavily on his mind. Yes, he treated Rose like a sister and they had played games before, but she had never just gotten into bed with him and fell asleep cosied up against him. Not even when her parents had been away on business trips and Mark had been asked to stay with her.

He contemplated asking Glen about it, but decided against it. Glen was not famous for his ability to focus on two things at once, so Mark figured he'd probably get a couple of grunts from him and not much more.

They arrived at the carnival ground in short time. Even though the strange unease and unending list of "What if's?" weighed on his mind like a huge concrete block on his shoulders, Mark did his best to hide it. He couldn't put it out of his mind as he went through the queue for a ticket.

Predictably, people noticed the group and recognised them. Mark and Glen easily slid into character and they mingled with the fans and staff so well that, after a while, they came back with a handful of free tickets.

Rose laughed with Amy about the lipstick on Glen & Mark's faces from the female fans that had asked to kiss them. But she noticed for a split-second that Mark looked a bit down, like he hadn't wanted to do it. She had an odd feeling. Mark had to be feeling a little awkward about the events of the last too days, she did after all. Even though it had felt so right she had felt a little uneasy. Was he going to do something soon? Would he make a move?

The question kept popping up in her head. She was sure she was never meant to feel this way about her Big Brother. She decided it was all in her imagination and put it out of her mind. She slid one arm around Mark's waist and held Amy's hand with the other. Amy did the same with Glen and together the four wandered merrily through the park.

She did however feel grateful that she had sat behind Mark on the log flume - he took the full brunt of the massive wave the little boat sent up by its impact, his sheer size shielding her completely from every drop. Rose opened her eyes to see she was completely dry. Mark, on the other hand, leaned over the boat's side, spat out a spitoon of water in one, long fountain arc, then looked ahead, trying to look as casual and calm as ever with his hair so bedraggled that he looked like a swamp rat in Biker gear. Frankly she'd been grateful to him for guarding her, even if it was accidental, but she couldn't resist laughing her head off at the sight of the sopping wet Mark Calaway.

Mark stared back at her, growling incoherently. Rose made the mistake of saying he was cute. She paid the price when Mark shook his head violently, spraying her with water so that her thin white t-shirt went almost see-through.

As Amy wrapped Rose up in her jacket and took her to the restroom to dry up, Mark leaned against a railing of a decorative fountain. Glen had wandered off to get a hotdog so he was temporarily alone.

From ride to ride, stall to stall and show to show, Mark had been plagued by his stormy sea of a mind. He couldn't shake the wierd feeling from his mind as he had wandered through the park, most of the time hand-in-hand with Rose. He felt strange about doing this with her as he still regarded her as his Little Sister.

But he also felt the beginnings of a strange pull towards her that felt like more than just sibling love.

Even when they were on rides he felt it. When the others returned to him and they wended their way around the park again, the day passed as a blur. Mark's mind lost feeling in his heart, which was becoming more and more comfortable.

At length the day drew to a close and the park began to do likewise. In a wierd mix of happiness and delusion, Mark wended his way back to the carpark and got back into the car to head back to the hotel.

On the way back, Mark sat in the back seat with Rose. Well not exactly sitting. He was lying down with his head in Rose's lap, feet poking out of the open window. He was surprised no one thought there was a dead body in the back seat. Rose even went so far as to stroke his hair out of his face as he lay in her lap.

That was when Glen noticed what was going on, whilst glancing in the rear view mirror. He didn't care what Mark said. He had never seen a brother and sister do THAT.

When they finally got back to the hotel, Rose got out of the car and Glen took her to oneside whilst Amy and Mark sorted out the souvenirs from the car's trunk.

"Rose, I don't know if you realise it but something's going through Mark's head. You two might be like family, but what was happening back there just now, was not family. It was different."

Rose was surprised. Glen seemed to have seen right through Mark AND Her. "You really think so?" She said, as much cautious as optimistic.

"Yes, I think so," Glen emphasised. "If I were you, I'd find out what's going on, because he hasn't been himself today. He's been too quiet."

Rose took Glen's advice to heart when she and Mark got upstairs. She finally decided to see what was going through Mark's head.

"I've been having...problems," Mark began. "Not that kind of problems," he added hastily, noticing her glance fleetingly downward toward his waist. "This wierd feeling has been runnin' through my mind all day." He looked at her and saw a look of sympathy in her eyes for him. "I think...I think I'm feeling something that I haven't felt in over four years."

Rose looked at him, gently putting a hand around his back. "What?" she asked, genuinely concerned about him. Mark looked into her eyes.

"I think...I think..." he looked down in a fit of embarrassment. "Look at me, the most intimidating WWE Superstar in history, and I can't even string a few words together." He gave a very small laugh. Rose was full of compassion. She stayed quiet, showing she wanted him to continue.

"I think I'm starting to like you, not just as a sister, or a friend," he said with no small amount of worry.

Rose was surprised. She looked into his eyes. He was telling the truth. She had known this man all her life, but had never seen him in such a vulnerable state.

Mark stared into those shining eyes, and felt that irrepressable urge again. Even though she still looked overwhelmed, he couldn't stop himself.

He leaned in and kissed her. 


	16. Chapter 16

CHAPTER 16

Mark's eyes were closed, oblivious to what was going through Rose's mind. She sat there, eyes fluttering open and closed in shock, completely at a loss for what to do next. Her body was paralysed, nothing except her lips seemed to be moving.

"Mark," she said as her voice suddenly returned. "Stop." Mark giggled a little bit, thinking she was just playing.

But Rose pushed him off her. "Stop, now!"

Mark sat back, eyes wide. He was afraid. Had he gone too far? "What?"

"I...this...it doesn't feel right."

The words blew over Mark like a harsh wind. "I'm sorry, I didn't..."

"I liked it," Rose interrupted desperately. "I'm not saying I didn't like it...it just didnt feel like the right thing to do."

"What do you mean?" Mark asked. "If you like it, how come it doesn't feel right?"

Not sure how to answer the question, Rose went suddenly quiet. She looked down at the floor, away from Mark. Mark followed her dejected gaze to the ground.

"I'm really sorry, i shoulda controlled myself," Mark said quietly. "Fourteen years of showmanship and I completely lose it like a total rookie."

"Don't do that," Rose said.

"What?" Mark asked, mystefied.

"Blame yourself," Rose clarified. You didn't know what was going to happen."

"Are you alright?" Mark asked. He went to put a comforting hand on Rose's shoulder, but she backed off.

"I just...need some air," Rose said, then she stood up and, ignoring Mark's protests, left the room.

"Hey Rose!" Came a voice, halfway down the corridor. Rose threw a fleeting glance behind her and saw Glen coming down the corridor towards her. She turned away and walked faster. She didn't want anything to do with anyone right now.

"Hey! Wait up, where's the fire?"

"Glen, SHUT UP!" Rose yelled, turning, shouting, turning back and storming off in one swift movement.

Glen froze on the spot, right outside the door to Mark's room. He stared at her quizically, then at the door. "What the hell is going on here?" he said to himself. Then he knocked on the door. 

Rose paced around in the confined space of the elevator, her mind in total disarray. She was shocked, she was saddened, she was confused. She felt literally like she had just kissed her brother. Not metaphorically, but physically. After a tortuous wait, the doors clinged open and she stepped out onto the corridor of the 21st floor of the building. She hurried out, not really sure where she was going. She had walked dazedly halfway down the corridor before she realised where she was. She was on the same floor as Amy Dumas.

Rose made a split-second, on the spot decision. She walked down the hallway until she found Amy's room, and knocked.

A ruffled, towel-clad Amy answered, surprised to see Rose there at all, let alone in a state of total mess.

"Rose?" She said, surprised. "What's going on? What is it?" Of course she could tell that something awful had just happened.

"It's...It's..." Rose steeled herself and tried to control her breathing. "It's Mark."

Amy looked either side of the door then ushered Rose inside. She sat her on the bed and sat next to her. "What about him?"

"He...he told me he had feelings for me," Rose said. "And he kissed me."

Amy's eyes were wide in shock. She didn't know much about Rose and Mark but Glen had told her repeatedly that they were like family. "What?!"

"I don't know what to do," Rose went on. She cradled her head in her hands. "I'm so confused."

"Tell me what happened," Amy said, putting a hand around Rose's shoulder. Rose leaned against her friend's chest, a tear rolling softly down her cheek.

"Well, he hadn't been in a good mood all day," Rose began. "So when we got back to the hotel room we talked about it. He told me that he had feelings...feelings he hadn't felt in four years."

Amy understood what that meant and where it was going. She knew like most people what had happened between Mark and his ex-wife.

"He told me he liked me, Amy. Not as a sister or as a family member. Before I could say anything he just leaned over and kissed me. And I..." she hesitated. "I liked it, but It just didn't feel right."

"What do you mean?" Amy asked.

"He's my brother, not my lover, I honestly feel like that. Like he is my blood-relative brother. And it felt so wierd to kiss him. Wrong, even."

"But you liked it right?" Amy asked.

"That isn't the point," Rose dismissed. "I felt like I was being incestual."

"Look," Amy said, sitting Rose up and taking her hand. "I know you two have a deep and close friendship but you never know, this could just be the natural evolution of it. How about I go talk to him? You can stay here if you want."

"You'd do that for me?" Rose asked. Amy nodded and smiled. "Of course, we're friends aren't we?"

Rose looked up at the door to see Glen walk in. He had a confused and dismayed look on his face. "I just talked to Mark, he told me what happened. I think you two need to talk it over."

"I'm going for her," Amy said, standing up. "Just let me get some clothes on first."

Glen looked indignant for a moment but Amy silenced him with a look. "Don't argue with me, Glen. This is what Rose wants. I'm going to go talk to Mark. And she is staying here for now, okay?! If what I'm doing is going to help, then I'm doing it."

Glen did what he always did when Amy was adamant about something: he shut up.

Amy walked down the corridor, face alight with determination and curiosity. What the hell was going on between those two? What had Mark been thinking? How could Rose possibly feel? And why, WHY did they have to do this when she was enjoying her day off?

She shook off the selfish thought as she approached Mark's room. She knocked on the door, listening for Mark coming towards it. When he opened it, he was suprised in no small way that Amy was on the other side of it.

"Amy?" he asked. "What're you doing here?"

"I came to talk to you," Amy said flatly. "I want to help you and Rose."

Mark stood back for a moment, wondering why she would want to. Then he heard his own voice. "Did Rose ask you to come?"

"Yes," Amy said, agitation trickling through her words. "She did."

"Well then, come in," Mark said, opening the door.

As Amy stepped in, Mark closed the door a little harder than usual.

Amy sat down on the sofa and looked up expectantly at Mark as he got himself a drink. He didn't offer her one, but she didn't really care. "I've heard Rose's side of the story," she said. "I want to hear yours."

"What is there to say?" Mark said. He downed the glass and placed it on the side.

"Cut the crap, Mark!" Amy said loudly. "What's going on?"

Mark looked indignant for a moment. "Well," he began. "Since the night she got the feeling back in her legs, I've started having feelings for her that I feel aren't appropriate." He searched for the right words. "I mean, last night she slept in my bed, and I wasn't complaining. In fact I was sleeping there right up against her, arm over her stomach, holding her." He stopped, breathless.

Amy looked on and raised an eyebrow. She had her own thoughts here. Maybe Rose had been telling the truth about how Mark had felt, the signs were certainly there. Breathlessness, the glazed eyes, the whistful sentences, the hurried speech...

"Why are you so scared about the feelings you have for her?" Amy asked, point blank. The suddenness and accuracy of Amy's words took Mark completely by surprise. He almost stumbled, but he managed to recover.

"I've treated Rose like a little sister from the day she was born. And now I feel things for her, like...like..."

"Love?" Amy said the word for him, because he seemed to afraid to say it himself. Mark again looked taken aback.

"...Yeah," he said slowly. "And I shouldn't feel like that about her."

"Why not?" Amy said. "Face it, Mark. You're in love."

Mark's face flitted to anger in the space of a blink. "Why her?" He demanded. "Why her, Amy?"

"Because somewhere underneath those rippling pectorals and sinewy muscles, there's a heart. A heart that's found one just like it that it responds to. And you know deep down that she is the only woman in over four years who can make you feel truly happy, no matter what happens in your life."

Mark stared at Amy and suddenly thought he had been missing something about her all along. "That was probably the most insightful, corny thing anyone has ever said to me," he said with a very small smile. It wasn't much, but it was a start.

"It's the truth," Amy said. "Isn't it?" She watched Mark's face as he realised that he was totally and helplessly cornered.

"I can't explain that to her though," Mark confessed. "I mean, she's never even had a boyfriend before."

"Do you know why?"

"Yeah," Mark remembered. "She told me it was because guys don't like the way she dressed."

Amy scoffed. She had felt like that once but nowadays it was hard to keep the guys off her even with pepper spray. "Anything else?"

"Yeah, she said she's not exactly a...'girly girl'. She likes Bikes, cars, metal & blues music, she doesn't mind getting her hands dirty..."

"In otherwords the same things as you."

Mark froze. Amy was absolutely right. Again. And it was beginning to annoy him. She was right about his feelings, she was right about the stuff he and Rose had in common, right about his fears...

Amy sat and watched as she saw Mark do something she had never expected him to do, ever. He flopped onto the bed, and burst into tears.

Amy scooped him up (with considerable difficulty) and held him for a few minutes.

"I'm scared," Mark said. Another first. "I'm scared that if I did act any more on those feelings, I'll lose her. I'll lose all the memories, all of those memories in my photo album."

Amy briefly wondered if this was the real Mark Calaway or some impostor in her arms. It was certainly possible. People had often posed as people she knew or exaggerated things and cried a lot, just to get a hug from her. Mostly for physical reasons. One or two had even tried to cop a feel.

"You have a photoalbum of her?" Amy clicked on. Mark nodded, clearing his eyes.

"Yeah, all the pictures I've got of her or me, or both of us, I put them all in that album."

"May I see it?"

Mark sat up, leaned over Amy and retrieved the old, leather-bound volume from a drawer next to the bed. He brought it towards her, wiped off a thin sheen of dust and laid it in her lap.

The first picture Amy saw was an old one, because Mark was wearing his first-version Makeup, from the 80s. But he was smiling, something the Undertaker never did in those very early days. In his arms was a child, a newborn baby wrapped in towelling, with a rose embroidered into it. Amy almost cooed. Mark must have ran from work to see Rose's parents that day. She almost giggled at the thought of the Phenom running through a hospital to find a baby. He must have looked like the Grim Reaper on speed.

A few pictures afterward, a picture of "Rose, 4yrs", in a pink bathing suit. She was sitting on Mark's shoulders. He was almost totally submerged in a pool so only his head and the top of his shoulders were visible. Amy looked through the whole book and suddenly understood Mark's fear of losing Rose.

She looked up at him as she placed the book back into his hands. "You love her more than life itself, don't you?" She asked softly. Mark looked at the book, and silently nodded. A tear was rolling down his cheek.

A loud bleeping stopped Amy from comforting Mark again. Irritably she reached into her pocket and dragged out her cellphone. She listened, becoming more and more alarmed with every second. Mark saw the look of shock and fear on her face.

"What?" Mark demanded as Amy put the phone back into her pocket. "What is it? What's happened?"

"It's Rose, she just called her parents."

Mark looked so dejected one might almost have heard his heart crash into the floor.

"She hasn't said anything about you two," Amy said. Mark looked relieved. Then he looked sad again as he said, "But...?"

"She's going home." 


	17. Chapter 17

CHAPTER 17

"DAMMIT!" Mark hurled a priceless china vase accross the room. It soared over Amy's head, crashing head-on into the window and flying through it with an almighty crash. "I scared her way, I scared her away!" He said, pacing the room in a panic. "Why the hell did I have to open my goddam mouth? Why couldn't I have just shut up?"

Amy did her best to calm him down, talking to him calmly and apologising.

"There's nothing for you to be sorry for, Amy," Mark said. "You're not the problem. I am. I'm the one who's caused all this crap."

"Maybe we should go to the airport, try to stop her from running?" Amy suggested, although for some reason it felt like a bad thing to do.

Mark stopped pacing and looked at her. "Good idea."  
"So this is goodbye, then."

Mark stared into Rose's eyes as those final, fatal words ripped through his mind and made him wonder if there really was any reason for him to smile. But he watched helplessly as his body smiled anyway. He heard his own voice speak, but he didn't want it to say what it was going to say. That was giving up...

"I guess it is."

"I'm going to miss you, Mark," Rose said, eyes welling up. Had Mark been his usual self he would have made some comical vomiting gesture.

"You too..." he paused. "Squirt."

Rose gave a gentle laugh.

"You...you don't have to..."

"Will you keep in touch?" Rose interrupted, pain drenching her face. Mark gave up on that note. She had shot him down.

"Definitely," he said wholeheartedly.

Rose looked like she wanted to say something else, but at that exact moment, her flight number was called. Before she could turn to go, Mark caught her arms and held her in a tight hug. It was hard to fight back urges and tears.

At length, he released her. Rose said her goodbyes to Glen and Amy and turned to go board her plane.

As the aircraft roared into the sky, Rose sat in her seat, silently crying. She hoped there was some way...some way they could be reunited.

FIVE YEARS LATER

Mark never forgot the vow he had made to Rose. Everywhere he went his belongings were not only including his photoalbum, but all the letters he had recieved from her. But after four years, they had started talking less and less. Mark had still sent letters but with no reply. And Rose's parents were worried about Rose spending long nights out and days locked up in her room.

She was now 24 years old. Her hair reached the base of her spine. And her figure was one of a confident, beautiful young woman. Her face was soft and supple, her eyes still shone, but they had not seen happiness for a long time. She never told her parents what happened at night, or why she spent so much time alone.

She had been watching him every week. She had felt lonely and sad and wondered where he was every second of the day. Little did she know that he felt exactly the same.

Neither of them could take the pain forever. Something had to happen.

That night, Mark had a match. He was in the Main Event at Wrestlemania 22. Hell in a Cell versus Randy Orton.

Near the end of the battle, Mark's mind was not on his career at all. He was on top of the cage with Orton, who was showboating himself and planning to powerbomb him through the cage. Idly Mark wondered if Orton could even lift so much weight in a gym, let alone in a person. But he didn't really care. He didn't care about the fans anymore, either.

As he was thinking this, the Arena lights cut to nothingness. Orton instantly released Mark. As Mark stood up to stare at the entranceway, he was mystified. There were no dramatics in this match. Not until the climax.

A black figure ran down the ramp carrying a steel chair. They climbed the cage. As Orton was preparing to attack from behind, the stranger ran toward him and caught him full force in the face with the chair. Randy collapsed to the cage roof like a broken doll.

Mark blinked and the figure was already retreating up the ramp. His mind was a dizzy turmoil. Who the hell had that been? He stared at the silhouette, who was at the top of the ramp, watching him. Staring at him as he did to them. Waiting.

Mark suddenly realised the deafening noise from the crowd had reached a crescendo. He didn't need to think - automatically his body acted. He reached down and wrapped a hand around Orton's throat like a vice. One-handed he hoisted him to his feet, before lifting him 10 feet into the air and Chokeslamming him through the steel-chain-link roof of the cage.

Orton crashed through the cage with astonishing force, force enough to make Mark stumble backwards a step with the sheer power of the throw. He thundered into the Ring canvas, breaking a crater into it that hid him almost completely from sight.

Mark climbed, exhausted, down the cage side and ripped open the door, before climbing into the ring. As he covered Orton, his eyes were fixed on the shadowy figure of the stranger at the top of the ramp.

Through the exhaustion-induced heat haze, he saw them peel off a mask. But he couldn't make out the blurry face. All he knew was that it was female.

But that was impossible.

Mark jumped up with suddenly-renewed strength and fought his way out of the cell to give chase as the stranger left. He followed her footsteps and what glimpses of her he could catch, until he came to the parking lot. She was sitting astride a motorcycle, helmet on her face. He saw her just long enough for a tyre screech to rip through his ears and a choking cloud of dust to mask her departure.

The next night, Mark arrived at the arena for the taping of Raw. He was still wondering who the female had been who had come to his aid the night before. As he walked into his locker room, he saw a note on the mantlepiece. It was addressed to him. He picked up the note, sat down on the sofa and opened it up. It read:

"Mark,  
I know you didn't recognise me last night, I have grown a lot since you last saw me. I have missed you a lot since I last saw you. I hope you remember who I am, considering you havent seen me for over 5 years. Talk to you soon."

Mark sat there in shock. He couldn't believe it. He hoped it was who he thought it was. He put the note on the mantle again in a daze. The daze lasted so long that he only came to his senses halfway through a speech to the fans about his perfect 14-nil Wrestlemania record.

As usual, the fans were hanging on his every word. His ego soared, having a field day. He knew he went out there to this every week but it was still hard to keep up his persona and his cool with this much adulation to soak up and enjoy. He was halfway to the end of his segment, now. And he knew he would be interrupted soon. Some upstart always interrupted him.

"Which brings me to the end of my match at Wrestlemania 22," he boomed. " I know someone back there thought I needed help to get my ass out of that spot," he went on. The crowd roared in sympathy. " I didn't even need any help. Orton would have gotten what was coming to him!" Another roar. But this time not because of what he was saying.

He froze and stared at the ramp as the arena lights cut. He felt for a second like he was staring at himself as a mysterious person, astride a motorcycle, appeared at the top of it. There was a distinctive roar as the unknown - yet unmistakeably familiar - person powered down the entrance ramp towards him. Mark said nothing as the slender, leather-clad form of the rider dismounted and bent under the middle rope to enter the ring.

Not taking off her helmet, she merely stood, facing him. Her face was totally hidden by her tinted mask.

"So," Mark growled. "You're the one who had to stick your pretty little nose in where it didn't belong." The stranger's only reaction was to relax on her heels, giving the impression that she was totally in control of the situation.

"So are you gonna tell me who you are under that mask?" he said, pointing at the helmet and speaking with fierce authority.

The woman popp ed her hips as she reached up to take hold of the helmet. Slowly, she lifted it off.

The crowd fell into silence. They had no idea who this person was. Mark, on the other hand, needed an act of supreme willpower to stop his jaw from dropping. It was a good job the microphone was nowhere near his face as he stared at her.

"Rose?!" he exclaimed, voice hoarse from shock. 


	18. Chapter 18

CHAPTER 18

Backstage, 15 Minutes after the revelation of who had been his mysterious saviour, Mark sat alone in his locker room. There was a knock at the door. As he got up to answer it, he already knew who it was. He opened the door to a quiet and nervous Rose Lewis. Time passed between the two as they stared at each other, neither one sure of what to say or do.

"You coming in?" Mark said eventually, toughguy image firmly directed at her, like this was just another segment on the show. Rose's face dropped a little more. She felt like she was being told off. Nervously, she stepped inside the room, sitting down uneasily on the couch.

"So it was you who sent me the note," he guessed, knowing it was true. She nervously nodded. "And stop looking so scared, I'm not gonna hurt you." Rose relaxed a little bit. She looked at him. She looked at him for a long, uninterrupted moment.

"How did you get here? Why did you do that at Wrestlemania?" Mark rambled on.

Rose looked at him fearfully for a few seconds, staying quiet until he had finished.

"I've got a contract," she said in a small voice. "I'm a Wrestler."

"You mean you're a Diva," Mark said with a gravity in his voice. Lily and Ross would kill him for letting this happen.

"No, I mean I'm a wrestler," Rose said defiantly. "I'm not going to be some idiot bimbo who screws around trying to keep her tits from popping out."

Mark snorted. He smiled.

"What?" Rose asked, perplexed.

"That was so funny it almost made me...throw up.."He said, sounding deflated by the end of the sentence. Rose visibly brightened up.

"So you got it when...just before Wrestlemania?" Mark asked. Rose looked away for a moment, before she said, "I've had the contract for a month...Wrestlemania was my first scheduled live appearance. I wanted to do the whole masked stranger thing because i don't have much experience with crowds, and Teddy..."

"Teddy?" Mark interrupted, voice rising. "So Theodore Long gave you the contract and didn't even tell me?" He asked, pacing the room.

"Teddy didn't tell you because he was afraid you'd get angry or something similar."

For a few seconds, Mark wanted to say Teddy had a point. Something - he didn't know what - stopped him from saying anything. "What?" He said, quietly but firmly.

Mark wasn't happy. He looked upset, not angry.

"You ignored me," he said, slowly, almost painfully. "I told you, I didn't want you being a part of this. I said it was dangerous. You didn't listen to me."

Rose's tentatively confident face cracked. She hadn't expected him to be so disappointed in her. Mark half expected her to look upset. But he didn't see what happened coming.

"So I'm supposed to obey everything you say to me? I'm supposed to let you govern my life? I have a sense of independence Mark, and I'm not stupid. I know that it's dangerous. But am I supposed to let risk or fear hold me back? You never have. Why should I? I'm doing this because it's my dream. I've talked a lot to Amy about it...I know what I'm getting into! I'd have thought you'd be happy for me or at least stop to think that I hadn't gone in head-first."

Mark was stunned into silence. Rose had never raised her voice against him before. There was a long, intimiading, tense silence between the two before Mark finally found his voice.

"No," he said, feeling a little deflated and sounding almost anxious. "I was just trying to steer you in the right direction," he said. "And I've never steered you wrong before."

Rose looked at him, confused and upset. Mark walked up to her and took her hand.

"You've got to understand that even if I am happy - and proud - of you, you're still family to me and if Lily or Ross ever found out i'd let this happen..."

"My mom and dad thought I was doing drugs in my room all day and going out getting drunk all night. They were wrong. I was training. Training so I would be ready. Finding out I'm in the WWE would come as a relief," Rose interrupted. There was a delicate smile on her face.

Mark looked surprised for a couple of moments,then burst out laughing.

"Well in that case, welcome to the WWE." 


	19. Chapter 19

CHAPTER 19 - A Few Weeks Later

Over the next few weeks, when Rose had a match, and her female opponent was accompanied by a man, Mark would always interfere. The fans - and Vince - loved it, but Rose and Mark knew the real reason why he was interfering - Mark had vowed to make sure she was alright in her first few matches, at least until she could stand on her own two feet.

One night, on Raw, Rose was facing off against Trish Stratus, an early shot at the WWE Women's Championship. The match was intense, and Mark was making a rare appearance as a manager to watch and see how she did. A well-timed and aimed roundhouse kick floored Trish with easy grace, Mark had to catch himself before he cringed from the impact - the Undertaker visibly cringing would ruin his persona.

The Ref counted three and Mark's heart leaped as Rose was handed the Women's Championship belt, although he didn't show it for the sake of his character.

Just as she was celebrating her Win, Triple H's championship belt shone as he scrambled into the ring from the crowd. Rose didn't move. She wasn't scared so much as wondering what the hell Triple H was doing here. He brought a hand from behind his back. He was carrying a mic.

Mark started, hovering on the ring apron, only to have the ref try and move him away.

"Well well well," Triple H drawled to Rose. "Looks like you won your first championship," he looked over at Mark. "And all by yourself this time, I see."

Mark tried to push his way past Earl Hebner and into the ring.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rose said firmly. Despite not having a mic and the din of the booing crowd, Triple H heard her loud and clear.

"Usually, your little boyfriend over there, comes into the ring and finishes the job for you," Triple H went on. He walked right up to her and stared her in the face. "Tell me, is it because you give him something in return?"

Mark snapped. He grabbed ahold of Hebner and threw him backwards to force his way into the ring. But he almost immediately stopped.

Triple H was looking at him, glaring at him. But anger wasn't on his face. There was a very large and rude red mark on his cheek. Mark looked to Rose, still frozen picturesque in the end of her forcefully-delivered slap to Triple H's face.

A grin crawled onto Triple H's face. He ignored Mark and looked back at Rose.

"Oo, feisty," he said, the mic still away from his mouth so only Rose heard. "Mind you, the woman who Taker had before preferred me over him, can't think why," he said, and he grabbed Rose's arm painfully before she could strike him again.

"She was a whore," Rose spat at him. "She wouldn't know love if it bit her in the ass."

"And you would?" Triple H was almost nose-to-nose with Rose.

Rose challenged his evil look with one of her own. "I've known that man since I was born. I know him."

Triple H was unfazed. "Apparently, rumour has it that you and the Undertaker have been having marital problems behind the scenes."

"THAT'S NONE OF YOUR DAMN BUSINESS!" Mark interjected. Rose stared at Triple H. Triple H turned to face Mark.

"Oh believe me, I've never had better news. With you trying to hold the fort at home with your little bitch here, I don't have to worry about you coming after my Championship."

"Worried?" Mark scoffed. "The great and powerful Jackass is afraid of me?" He looked at Triple H and wrenched the mic from his hands. "You have never beaten me, Triple H. You have never won once against me, and I proved to you already that you can't, ever, beat me. But if you've still got your head buried in your ass, then I guess I'll have to rip it out!"

Mark stared down at Triple H.

"You? Take me?" Triple H sneered. "That's a pretty funny joke."

"No, dumbass," Mark shot back. "You're the joke."

Rose laughed. Triple H shot a black look at her, mouthing the words "you little bitch."

"Hey, peckerwood," Mark grabbed Triple H's chin and wrenched Triple H's back to attention. "What's wrong? Hit a sore spot?"

Triple H was cornered and he knew it. Then he hit on the idea. He unsnapped his belt, glared at Mark, then before the Taker could blink, he smashed him in the face with the belt.

Shortly before he turned and struck Rose a massive blow with the same.

Rose crumpled to the ground. Mark, stumbling with blurry vision, saw her fall. He cursed Triple H and gritted his teeth. Rose was still concious, but Mark could see she was in serious pain. Triple H dropped his belt to the ground and climbed out of the ring to get his signature Sledgehammer.

Mark tried to stand up onto his feet but he buckled back onto his knees.

"Something else you remember about that match maybe?" Triple H growled. "An old steely friend perhaps?" Mark looked through the haze of dizziness the impact from the belt had left him with. "No?" Triple H sneered. "How about i JOG YOUR MEMORY?!"

He turned to face Rose's prone body, hammer raised high over her.

Mark acted on groggy instinct. He lunged forward and delivered a heavy low blow. The hammer dropped from Triple H's hands as he crumpled to the ground. In an animalistic flash of fury Mark dived upon Triple H, hammering him with both hands, beating him over the ground in a flurry so fast it was a blur to all but Mark himself.

Rose crawled, half-conscious,towards Mark. She hauled herself to her feet and staggered groggily to his side. The din and the noise from the crowd was a faceless rampant groan in her ears, disorienting and confusing her. She gingerly put a hand on his shoulder, and he suddenly stopped punching Triple H, peeling himself off his victim to stand shakily on his own feet.

Rose stood by him and looked at his eyes. Mark's eyes were full of a wild, empty fire that she had never seen in him before. They were wild and crazed, yes, but they were also fiery in a way she had never seen.

She wasn't even sure what to make of him. She only had a feeling that it was something to do with her...how he had furiously lunged on Triple H at the slightest provocation. None of those punches had been choreographed. It was all real anger, real rage, which Mark had brutally unleashed on the savaged Triple H.

Never taking those fiery eyes off her, Mark faced Rose. The crowd was a buzzing, thrumming echo around them as they stared into each other's very souls.

"Rose..." Mark mouthed, but knowing she would hear him, even though the noise was almost deafening. Mark wanted to scream at the crowd to shut up but he knew it was pointless. He walked a couple of paces, drawing closer to her. She looked back at him, feeling a pull toward him.

She suddenly looked from Mark to the flinching movement next to him. Too late, she knew what was happening.

Face a snarl, hands locked chokingly around the hammer, Triple H brought his weapon round in a lethal swing, crunching into Mark's back with a sickening snap.

Paralysed, Rose looked on in horror as Triple H dropped the hammer and started to beat Mark's head with his raging fists. Blood poured out of his scarred, torn forehead. Satisfied with his heinous attack, Triple H stood, laughing sadistically as he exited the ring and stalked out of the arena.

Rose dropped to her knees. Mark's breathing was short and rushed. His face was a bloody red mess. She crawled to his side, panicked words tumbling out of her mouth just like the rushes of air from her terrified lungs. She ran a hand over his forehead.

"Mark?" she said, tearfully and meekly. His eyes rolled to her scared face. He didn't need words for her to know that he couldn't move.

"Rose...stop...being...so...wimpy," he said determinedly."You've seen me...banged up before."

The joke didn't cheer Rose up. She grabbed his hand tightly. "I'm going to get you out of this, just like you did for me, I'm going to make sure you're okay."

Mark looked at her. There was no joke when he spoke. "Why?"

"Because..." Rose's eyes welled up and she held his hand to her heart. "Because I love you." 


	20. Chapter 20

CHAPTER 20-

As soon as Mark heard those words from Rose's lips, he became speechless. The EMT's finally arrived with a stretcher to get him out of the ring.

"Rose..." he choked as the ceiling drifted by. Rose ran to the stretcher and grabbed his hand.

"Rose, i... i lo-" a spurt of blood shocked its way up his throat and Mark brought it up. The movement sent more spikes of pain up Mark's spine. He grimaced and looked into her frightened eyes.

"I love you" he forced out though his gargling throat. Then, he passed out.

Hours later,in hospital, Rose was still rolling the words around in her mind. She remembered the exhilaration of hearing him admit it, despite the pain of knowing he was hurt.

"Rose?" said a voice. She looked at the doctor who had appeared near her seat.

"How is he?" she asked nervously. She stood up as the doctor cleared his throat and looked at her with sympathy in his eyes.

"There's a lot of internal bleeding," the doctor said uneasily. "We've managed to stop it...but he's very weak." Rose gasped with tight breathing. She was so relieved she almost laughed.

"Weak, huh? Well it's obvious you don't know him very well," Rose said. The doctor looked at the floor. His drama had backfired. Rose composed herself. "Can I see him?"

The doctor nodded meekly. Rose brushed past him into the room. She guessed he didn't take losing very well.

As she entered the room, she saw Mark lying in the hospital bed. She walked up to his side and after a few moments, his eyes flickered open.

"Hey squirt, why so glum? Is someone dying?" Mark said, his voice stronger than it had been after the attack.

"The doctor was acting like you were," Rose smiled softly. Mark managed a small laugh."Don't worry about me, I'm fine."

Mark shuffled a little bit to get more comfortable. "But look at you," he croaked. "Women's Champ, you're on top of your game."

"Does that mean you don't want me to quit anymore?"

Mark smiled, his eyes closed. "Maybe."

"So you don't mind me being in the WWE?" Rose pushed. "No," Mark replied, still breathing a little heavily because of the dull, throbbing pain in his stomach and back. Rose felt like a huge burden had been lifted off her shoulders.

"But you're gonna be a lot more busy now you're a champion," Mark said wisely. "That belt isn't just a prize, it's a target. A huge bullseye on your waist." He looked at the title that Rose was still wearing. She hadn't even taken it off on her way to the hospital.She tenatively placed a hand on it. She hadn't thought of that.

"I guess I'd better step up my training, be ready for all that extra attention," Rose said thoughtfully. She looked back at him. "How long do you have to stay in hospital?"

"At least another week," Mark said, boredom seeping out in his voice. Rose took his hand and comforted him.

"You'll be out of here in half that time if I know you," she said. Mark laughed. "I'll be fine, you just concentrate on that title of yours. Don't worry about me."

Rose frowned for a second but she didn't say anything. She felt oddly like he was asking her to focus on herself and no one else. Mark squeezed her hand.

"You better get out before the nurse arrives. I'll be out in a week, don't worry."

Rose left Mark to get some rest, thinking about how she could keep the title but still share the ring with him.

She was so busy with her new regime that she didn't notice someone had been spying on their whole conversation. As she headed out of the hospital, Triple H looked on, with a scheming look on his face. He allowed himself a small laugh as he made his way back to tha parking lot.

Such a good opportunity...couldnt go to waste. 


	21. Chapter 21

CHAPTER 21

A few days later, Rose was readying herself for her first title defence, against Trish Stratus. She still thought of Mark back at the hospital, but he had told her not to worry about him, so she did her best to put him out of her mind.

As she walked down the ramp that night, her eyes were firmly locked on the ring and who was inside it. Even though Trish could see her coming she still looked for Rose's confidence as she knew her mind was elsewhere.

Rose was having none of Trish's mind games and defiantly kept a straight face on her way to the ring. She stepped inside, watching Trish's every move.

The match passed in a dizzy blue for Rose. The competition had stepped up and she was caught in a perpetual adrenaline high. Mark's words rang in her ears throughout, a detatched whisper: "A target...bullseye on your waist"...

She didn't know how long the match had taken but she did know that she won.

As she picked up her belt at match's end, she couldn't help remembering those words again. She shook off the wierd feeling of trepidation, coming down slowly from the adrenaline and the rush of competition, then walked back up the ramp, heading backstage.

As soon as she was back behind the scenes, Amy caught up with her. "Rose!" She called as she sped up to walk beside her. "Where've you been? Ii've been looking for you all night."

Rose wondered where the hell Amy had been hiding. It was hard to miss her match. "I just..." she stopped to get her breathing in check. "Came from a Title Match," she panted, pointing at the belt around her waist.

"Mark's back," Amy gushed, as if it was incredible news she couldn't keep to herself.

"I know," Rose said, which deflated Amy a bit. "He always comes back sooner than they think he will, the showoff."

Amy laughed. "He's in his locker room, waiting for you." Rose was still trying to get her breathing under control.

"I think I need to just get some sleep at the moment. I've had a hell of a day," Rose said. Amy nodded. "I'll tell him you'll catch up with him later."

Rose gratefully nodded, before heading to her locker room to shower before calling it a night.

Triple H watched her go and sniggered.

"Perfect."

He slunk into the shadows. 


End file.
